Study on explosion characteristics and mechanism of H2/CH3OH mixtures based on experiments and CHEMKIN simulations

This work systematically investigates explosion overpressure evolution law, flame propagation characteristics and explosion mechanism of H 2 /CH 3 OH gas-liquid mixtures via 20 L spherical explosion test apparatus coupled with CHEMKIN simulations. Results demonstrate H 2 exerts a nonlinear dual effect on the mixtures’ explosion characteristics. When the H 2 volume fraction is below 10%, P m , (d P /d t ) m and flame propagation speed rise monotonically with increasing H 2 concentration. Low-concentration H 2 strengthens chain branching, accelerates CH 3 OH dehydrogenation and forms synergistic exothermic feedback to produce synergistic promotion effect. All explosion parameters reach peak values at 10 vol% H 2 , and the Kst rises to St3 Exceeding the critical threshold of 10%, competitive oxygen consumption and disrupted chain-branching cycles enable excess H· radicals to promote chain termination reactions, reducing explosion intensity and switching the dominant explosion mechanism from CH 3 OH-dominated to H 2 -dominated. The findings provide theoretical support for explosion protection and safe operation of methanol hydrogen production processes.