Study on Chemical Kinetics of Explosion Caused by Pentane Leakage

ACS Omega. 2020 Aug 19;5(34):21669-21678. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.0c02510. eCollection 2020 Sep 1.

Abstract

Air-light hydrocarbon mixing gas with pentane as the main component is recognized as the "fourth urban gas" by the Chinese government. However, leakage may occur because of inadvertent human operation, and in this case, it is very easy to cause explosion. This paper mainly studies the changes in reactants, products, and free radicals during the explosion of pentane, especially the effects of oxygen and carbon monoxide concentrations on human body in this environment. In actual situations, excessive leakage of pentane is predominant. Once an explosion occurs, oxygen will be quickly consumed, and the concentration of carbon monoxide will rise abruptly. The high temperature resulting from the explosion can cause carbon dioxide to rarely react with carbon atoms to form carbon monoxide through the reaction of CO2 + C = 2CO. The research studies on the three major free radicals including hydrogen radical, oxygen radical, and hydroxyl radical are performed to provide theoretical support for preventing the chain reaction from further expanding the impact of explosion.