Inhibition Effect of KHCO3 and KH2PO4 on Ethylene Explosion

Yang Wang; JingJing Yang; Jia He; XiaoPing Wen; WenTao Ji; Yan Wang

doi:10.1021/acsomega.2c06894

Inhibition Effect of KHCO₃ and KH₂PO₄ on Ethylene Explosion

ACS Omega. 2023 Feb 14;8(8):7566-7574. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c06894. eCollection 2023 Feb 28.

Authors

Yang Wang^{1

2}, JingJing Yang^{1

2}, Jia He^{1

2}, XiaoPing Wen³, WenTao Ji^{1

2}, Yan Wang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory Cultivation Bases for Gas Geology and Gas Control, College of Safety Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454003, China.
² The Collaboration Innovation Center of Coal Safety Production of Henan Province, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454003, China.
³ School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454003, China.

Abstract

The explosion risk of ethylene (C₂H₄) seriously hinders safe development of its production and processing. To reduce the harm caused by C₂H₄ explosion, an experimental study was conducted to assess the explosion inhibition characteristics of KHCO₃ and KH₂PO₄ powders. The experiments were conducted based on the explosion overpressure and flame propagation of the 6.5% C₂H₄-air mixture in a 5 L semi-closed explosion duct. Both the physical and chemical inhibition characteristics of the inhibitors were mechanistically assessed. The results showed that the 6.5% C₂H₄ explosion pressure (P _ex) decreases by increasing the concentration of KHCO₃ or KH₂PO₄ powder. The inhibition effect of KHCO₃ powder on the C₂H₄ system explosion pressure was better than that of the KH₂PO₄ powder under similar concentration conditions. Both powders significantly affected the flame propagation of the C₂H₄ explosion. Compared with KH₂PO₄ powder, KHCO₃ powder had a better inhibition effect on the flame propagation speed, but its ability to reduce the flame luminance was less than KH₂PO₄ powder. Finally, the inhibition mechanism(s) of KHCO₃ and KH₂PO₄ powders were revealed based on the powders' thermal characteristics and gas-phase reaction.