Chemical Kinetics and Cellular Structure of Detonations in Hydrogen Sulphide and Air

摘要

Detailed analyses of hydrogen sulphide oxidation have been used to characterize the reaction zone structure at temperatures and pressures typical of detonations in mixtures of hydrogen sulphide and air. Detonation reaction zone lengths are calculated for a wide range of compositions, and the variation of these lengths with initial pressure and water vapor dilution are calculated. Estimates of detonation cell size lambda are made based on scaling factors established for other fuel-air systems. These estimates are compared with results obtained in an experimental investigation of the detonability of mixtures of hydrogen sulphide and air. The predicted cell size of 10 cm at stoichiometric composition and standard initial conditions is in excellent agreement with the experimental results. The predicted variation of cell size also agrees well with the experimental observations over a concentration range of 10 to 20% (by volume) hydrogen sulphide. Based on the d/sub c/ = 13lambda estimate of critical tube diameter d/sub c/, the minimum critical tube diameter (for a stoichiometric mixture) is 1.3 m. Mixtures of hydrogen sulphide and air are therefore slightly less sensitive to detonation than propane-air mixtures, which have a minimum critical tube diameter of 0.9 m. 27 refs., 12 figs., 4 tabs. (ERA citation 10:034676)