Abstract:
Experiments have been carried out on the effects of pressure,
velocity, mixture strength, turbulence intensity and turbulence
scale on minimum ignition energy and quenching distance. Tests
were conducted at room temperature in a specially designed closedcircuit tunnel in which a fan was used to drive propane/air
mixtures at subatmospheric pressures through a 9 cm square working section at velocities up to 50 m/s. Perforated plates located at
the upstream end of the working section provided near-isotropic
turbulence in the ignition zone ranging from 1 to 22 percent in
intensity, with values of turbulence scale up to 0.8 cm.
Ignition was effected using capacitance sparks whose energy and
duration could be varied independently.
