FLAMMABILITY LIMIT

KEBAKARAN DAN LEDAKAN

TEKNIK KESEHATAN DAN

KESELAMATAN KERJA
Vapor mixtures
 Frequently LFL and UFL for mixtures are needed. These
mixture limits are computed using the equation:

1 1
LFL mix  n UFL mix  n
yi yi
 i 1 UFL i
i 1 LFL i

 LFLi is the lower flammable limit for component i

 yi is the mole fraction of component i on combustible basis
 n is the number of combustible species
 Example 6.2 (pg 234)

What are the LFL and UFL of a gas mixture

composed of 0.8% hexane, 2.0% methane, and
0.5% ethylene by volume?

APPENDIX B
LFL UFL
3,3%
2,75% 12,9%

Because the mixture contains

3.3% total combustibles,
it is flammable.
Flammibility limit dependence
on temperature
0.75
LFLT  LFL 25   T  25 
H c
0.75
UFLT  UFL 25   T  25 
H c

H c net heat of combustion (kcal/mole)

Flammibility limit dependence
on pressure
 Pressure has little effect on LFL except at very low
pressure (<50 mm Hg absolute)
 The UFL increases significantly as the pressure is
increased, broadening the flammability range.

UFL P  UFL  20.6  log P  1

Flammibility limit dependence
on pressure
Example 6-3.
 If the UFL for a substance is 11.0% by volume at 0.0

MPa gauge, what is the UFL at 6.2 MPa gauge?

Solution
 The absolute pressure is P = 6.2 + 0.101 = 6.301

MPa. The UFL is determined using Equation 6-6:

UFLP = UFL + 20.6(log P + 1)

= 11.0 + 20.6(log 6.301 + 1)
= 48 vol. % fuel in air.
Estimating flammability limits

LFL  0.55Cst

UFL  3.50Cst
Cst stoichiometric concentration (volume % fuel in fuel plus air)
 Stoichiometric concentration for most organic compounds is
determined using the general combustion reaction

x
Cm H x O y  zO 2  mCO 2  H 2O
2
x y
z  m 
4 2
 0.55  100 
LFL 
4.76m  1.19x  2.38y  1

3.50  100 
UFL 
4.76m  1.19x  2.38y  1
 Example 6.4

Estimate the LFL and UFL for hexane, and compare

the calculated limits to the actual values determined
experimentally
Limiting oxygen concentration
and inerting
 Explosions and fires can be prevented by reducing the oxygen
concentration regardless of the concentration of the fuel
 Below the limiting oxygen concentration (LOC) the reaction
cannot generate enough energy to heat the entire mixture of
gases (including the inert gases) to the extent required for the
self-propagation of the flame
 LOC=MOC ~ minimum oxygen concentration
 This concept is the basis for a common procedure called
inerting (Chapter 7)
 Example 6.5

Estimate the LOC for butane. Given LFL for butane

(from Appendix B) is 1.9% by volume

APPENDIX B
 Ignition energy
 Minimum ignition energy (MIE) is the minimum energy required to
initiate combustion. All flammable materials (including dusts) have
MIEs.
 MIE depends on specific chemical or mixture, concentration,
pressure and temperature
 MIE decrease with increase of pressure
 MIE of dusts is in general, at energy levels somewhat higher than
combustible gases
 An increase in nitrogen concentration increases MIE
 Many hydrocarbons have MIEs about 0.25mJ
 Static discharge by walking across rug = 25mJ
 Energy levels from electrostatic discharge caused by fluid flow >
MIE of flammable material  leads to ignition  plant explosion!
Autoignition
 Autoignition temperature (AIT) of vapor=spontaneous ignition
temperature (SIT)
 Temperature at which the vapor ignites spontaneously from the
energy of environment
 Depends on concentration of vapor, volume of vapor, pressure
of system, presence of catalytic material and flow conditions
 AIT data are provided in Appendix B
Appendix B
Auto-oxidation
 Process of slow oxidation with accompanying evolution of heat,
sometimes leading to autoignition if the energy is not removed
from the system
 Liquids with relatively low volatility are susceptible to this
problem
 Liquids with high volatility are less susceptible to autoignition
because they self-cool as a result of evaporation
 Example of auto-oxidation: oils on a rag in waste can/pile on
the floor/warm storage area
Adiabatic compression
 Gasoline and air in an automobile cylinder will ignite if the
vapors are compressed to an adiabatic temperature that
exceeds the autoignition temperature
 It is the reason some overheated engines continue to run after
the ignition is turned off
 Several large accidents have been caused by flammable vapors
being sucked into the intake of air compressor – subsequent
compression resulted in autoignition
 The adiabatic temperature increase for an ideal gas is computed
from the thermodynamic adiabatic compression equation:
 1 / 
 Pf 
Tf  Ti  
 Pi 
Tf is the final absolute temperature
Ti is the initial absolute temperature
Pf is the final absolute pressure
Pi is the initial absolute pressure
  Cp / C v
 Example 6.6

What is the final temperature after compressing air

over liquid hexane from 14.7 psia to 500 psia if the
initial temperature is 100 ̊F? The AIT of hexane is
487 ̊C (from Appendix B) and  for is 1.4

APPENDIX B
Example 6.7 (Pg 250)
Explosions
 Explosion results from rapid release of energy. Energy release
must be sudden enough to cause local accumulation of energy
at the site of explosion
 Energy is dissipated~formation of pressure wave, projectiles,
thermal radiation, acoustic energy
 Damage from explosion is caused by dissipating energy
 If explosion occurs in gas, the energy causes the gas to expand
rapidly, forcing back the surrounding gas and initiating a
pressure wave that moves rapidly outward from the blast
source
 Pressure wave contains energy~damage to surroundings
 For chemical plants much of the damage from explosions is due
to pressure wave
 Thus, in order to understand explosion impacts , we must
understand the dynamics of pressure wave
 A pressure wave propagating in air is called blast wave because
the pressure wave is followed by strong wind
 Shock wave or shock front results if the pressure front has an
abrupt pressure change~highly explosive material-TNT
Detonaton & Deflagration
Assignment
 Problem 6.3, 6.4 & 6.6