Detonations in H2-N2O-CH4-NH3-O2-N2 Mixtures
Raza Akbar, Michael Kaneshige, Eric Schultz, Joseph Shepherd
Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125
Explosion Dynamics Laboratory Report FM97-3
July 24, 1997
Revised January 17, 2000
Prepared for Los Alamos National Laboratory under
Contract 929Q0015-3A, DOE W-7405-ENG-36
This report describes experimental studies and analyses on the detonation properties
of flammable gases that may be present in the waste storage tanks
at Hanford, WA. These studies were carried out in the Explosion Dynamics Laboratory, part of the
the Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories of the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT).
Detonation cell sizes and pressures were measured in the GALCIT detonation tube facility
for mixtures of hydrogen, ammonia,
methane, nitrous oxide, oxygen and nitrogen. Measurements were made as
a function of nitrogen and air dilution for stoichiometric mixtures of fuels and oxidizers
and also specific retained gas compositions of tanks such as SY-101.
Chemical kinetic modeling of these mixtures has been performed using the
idealized ZND model. Existing reaction mechanisms and rate constant sets
were benchmarked against shock tube
data available in the literature. Correlations between reaction zone length
and detonation cell width were developed that can be used to correlate and extrapolate
the existing experimental data base.
