Explosion Performance of Al Powder-Liquid Fuel Mixtures under Different Ambient Conditions

The explosion performance of Al powder-diethyl ether (A-D) and Al powder-diethyl ether-nitromethane (A-D-N) mixtures under low-temperature and low-pressure as well as high-temperature and high-humidity conditions were investigated in a 20 L explosion vessel. The explosion pressure, maximum pressure rise rates, and lower flammability limit (LFL) of the mixtures under binary ambient conditions were obtained. The results showed that the A-D-N mixture had a higher explosion pressure and LFL under the same ambient condition due to the addition of nitromethane. The explosion pressure and LFL of the A-D-N mixture had lower sensitivity to the variation of ambient parameters. The result could further help in explosion performance assessment of multi-phase fuel under actual ambient conditions.