The explosion characteristics investigations of novel biofuel-propyl acetate

Abstract

Propyl acetate can used as fuel in many industries and transportation and it is important to understand its explosivity. This work examined the explosion of propyl acetate for different equivalence ratios at pressures of 1–4 bar and temperatures of 390–450 K. According to the study, the adiabatic flame temperature of propyl acetate in lean and extremely rich mixtures was unaffected by the initial pressure, but in slightly rich mixtures and at the equivalence ratio of 1.0, it was slightly affected. As the initial temperature and equivalence ratio increased, the adiabatic flame increased. The initial temperature insignificantly influenced the maximum rate of pressure rise, the highest rate of heat produced, and the severity index but substantially affected the highest explosion pressure. In contrast, the explosion's highest pressure, maximum rate of pressure rise, highest rate of heat released, and severity index all increased as the initial pressure and equivalence ratio increased. However, the experimentally measured severity index results (<200 bar-m/s) showed that protection against the explosion of propyl acetate/air mixtures would be practical and effective. The information from this study is appropriate for developing a basic theoretical framework of propyl acetate explosivity.