Inhibition Characteristics of Methane/Air Explosions by Collaborative Inhibition Devices

ABSTRACT With the advancement of the modernization and intensification of urban pipelines, the utility tunnels have become important public infrastructure in the new urban areas of our country. In case of a gas explosion accident, it will seriously endanger public safety. To reveal the mechanism of the collaborative effect of water mist and porous slip device on explosion characteristics, an experiment was conducted on the impact of the collaborative inhibition device on the explosion. The influence of the device on methane explosion pressure, flame propagation speed, and flame luminance was analyzed. The results show that both the sliding device and the water mist can effectively attenuate the explosion flame and reduce the pressure peak. The inhibitory effect decreases as the porosity and elastic coefficient increase. Under the optimal parameter combination (60 PPI, 12.97 N/m), the flame propagation speed is reduced by 84% and the overpressure peak is reduced by approximately 46.51%. In addition, the water mist suppresses the backflow combustion within the porous medium and releases the upstream pressure. At the same time, the physical effect of the water mist and the chemical effect of the sliding device work together to intensify energy dissipation. Furthermore, this study also established a quantitative prediction model to analyze the relationship between the physical parameters of the device and its performance. The multiple regression model analysis further revealed the response mechanism of the composite suppression device in the initial stage of the explosion and the energy attenuation phase, providing a theoretical reference for explosion protection technology.