Determination of minimum mass and spatial location of initiator for detonation of propylene oxide aerosols

Abstract

The mishandling of liquid fuels during production, processing or transportation can lead to the formation of combustible two-phase mixtures. These mixtures, with the availability of a suitable energy source, may be ignited generating a deflagration, or even a detonation wave. For military applications, unconfined fuel aerosols are created and detonated with the help of a strong shock generated by a powerful energy source. The minimum energy requirement is expressed in terms of the shock strength, or mass of the high-explosive-based initiator. In this study, the detonability of unconfined aerosols of 4.3 kg propylene oxide was studied by positioning different quantities of cylindrical-shaped initiators of RDX/wax (95/5) at a fixed spatial location in the aerosol cloud, and the minimum mass of the initiator required for detonation initiation was determined. The effect of spatial location and the requirement of initiator mass, especially at farther locations where the fuel concentration is likely to be lower and closer to the lower explosive limit, was also investigated. The experimental findings help identify the detonable zone in unconfined propylene oxide aerosol clouds for different combinations of spatial location and mass of initiator.