The quantitative studies on gas explosion suppression by an inert rock dust deposit

Research on the Rule of Explosion Shock Wave Propagation in Multi-Stage Cavity Energy-Absorbing Structures

The propagation laws of explosion shock waves and flames in various chambers were explored through a self-built large-scale gas explosion experimental system. The propagation process of shock waves inside the cavity was explored through numerical simulation using Ansys Fluent, and an extended study was conducted on the wave attenuation effect of multiple cavities connected in a series. The findings show that the cavity's length and diameter influenced the weakening impact of shock waves and explosive flames. By creating a reverse shock wave through complicated superposition, the cavity's shock wave weakening mechanism worked. By suppressing detonation creation inside the cavity, the explosive flame was weakened by the cavity's design. The multi-stage cavity exhibited sound-weakening effects on both shock waves and explosive flames, and an expression was established for the relationship between the suppression rate of shock force and the number of cavities. Diffusion cavities 35, 55, 58, and 85 successfully suppressed explosive flames. The multi-stage cavity efficiently reduced the explosion shock wave. The flame suppression rate of the 58-35 diffusion cavity explosion was 93.38%, whereas it was 97.31% for the 58-35-55 cavity explosion. In engineering practice, employing the 58-58 cavity is advised due to the construction area, construction cost, and wave attenuation impact.

Establishment and evaluation of an in vitro blast lung injury model using alveolar epithelial cells

Background

Gas explosion is a fatal disaster commonly occurred in coal mining and often causes systematic physical injuries, of which blast lung injury is the primary one and has not yet been fully investigated due to the absence of disease models. To facilitate studies of this field, we constructed an in vitro blast lung injury model using alveolar epithelial cells.

Methods

We randomly divided the alveolar epithelial cells into the control group and blast wave group, cells in the blast wave group were stimulated with different strengths of blast wave, and cells in the control group received sham intervention. Based on the standards we set up for a successful blast injury model, the optimal modeling conditions were studied on different frequencies of blast wave, modeling volume, cell incubation duration, and cell density. The changes of cell viability, apoptosis, intracellular oxidative stress, and inflammation were measured.

Results

We found that cell viability decreased by approximately 50% at 6 h after exposing to 8 bar energy of blast wave, then increased with the extension of culture time and reached to (74.33 ± 9.44) % at 12 h. By applying 1000 ~ 2500 times of shock wave to 1 ~ 5 × 105 cells /ml, the changes of cell viability could well meet the modeling criteria. In parallel, the content of reactive oxide species (ROS), malonaldehyde (MDA), interleukin 18 (IL-18), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) increased in the blast wave group, while superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Glutathione -S- transferase (GST) decreased, which were highly consistent with that of human beings with gas explosion-induced pulmonary injury.

Conclusion

An in vitro blast lung injury model is set up using a blast wave physiotherapy under 8 bar, 10 Hz blast wave on (1 ~ 5) ×105 alveolar epithelial cells for 1 000 times. This model is flexible, safe, and stable, and can be used for studies of lung injury caused by gas explosion and blast-associated other external forces.

Experimental Study on Two-Phase Explosion Suppression of Gas/Pulverized Coal by Explosion Suppressant

Pulverized coal is widely distributed in coal mine roadways, which can enhance the power of a gas explosion. Explosion suppression technology can effectively reduce the explosion power. At present, rock powder shed, a water bag, and ABC powder are widely used in most coal mine explosion suppression technologies. In order to verify the explosion suppression effect of rock powder, water, and ABC powder in the pulverized coal environment, a series of experiments on a suppressing gas/pulverized coal two-phase explosion were carried out with a self-built large-scale gas explosion experimental system. The experimental study in this paper can provide some reference for the improvement of explosion suppression technology in coal mines. In this paper, through the suppression of a secondary explosion, flame, and impact of pulverized coal, the explosion suppression effects of three kinds of explosion suppressants are comprehensively analyzed. The results show that rock powder has a good inhibitory effect on a secondary explosion and flame of pulverized coal, and water has a good inhibitory effect on the shock wave. ABC powder has the best explosion suppression effect; the inhibition of a secondary explosion of pulverized coal is 4.17 times that of rock powder, the inhibition of flame is 4.28 times that of rock powder, and the inhibition of shock wave is 2.24 times that of water.

Ignition temperature and mechanism of carbonaceous dust clouds: The roles of volatile matter, CH4 addition, O2 mole fraction and diluent gas

Minimum ignition temperature of dust clouds (MITC) was studied experimentally and theoretically in different atmospheres. Three carbonaceous dusts were tested in both air and O₂/CO₂ atmospheres with CH₄ mole fraction from 0% to 2%. Results showed that the ignition risk of the three dusts significantly increases (decrease of MITC by ~100 ℃) with increasing X_O2 from 21% to 50%, but significantly decreases replacing N₂ in air with CO₂. The inhibition effect of CO₂ on MITCs could be diminished by increasing X_O2 or adding CH₄. The addition of small amount of CH₄ has different effects on the MITCs of different dust samples, following the opposite order of volatile matter content: anthracite>bituminous coal>starch. Two modified steady-state ignition models, considering the density of mixture gas and dust cloud, X_O2 and its diffusivity, were developed to interpret the experimental observations. The analysis revealed that the global heterogeneous ignition model suits well for the hybrid mixtures of anthracite or bituminous coal dusts. In contrast, the proposed global homogeneous ignition model was found to be only valid for the pure starch dust, and the extra CH₄ addition could strongly affect the ignition process of starch, particularly in O₂/CO₂ atmospheres with higher X_O2.

Evaluation of Gas Explosion Injury Based on Analysis of Rat Serum Profile by Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry-Based Metabonomics Techniques

Gas explosion can lead to serious global public health issues. Early period gas explosion injury (GEI) can induce a series of histopathologic and specific metabolic changes. Unfortunately, it is difficult to treat GEI thoroughly. To date, the specific molecular mechanism of GEI is still unclear. To accurately diagnose and provide comprehensive clinical intervention, we performed a global analysis of metabolic alterations involved in GEI. The physiological and behavioral indicators' changes of rats after gas explosion were observed. These metabolic alterations were first investigated in a rat model using serum metabonomics techniques and multivariate statistical analysis. Significant heart rate (HR), mean blood pressure (mBP), and neurobehavioral index changes were observed in the GEI group after gas explosion. UPLC-MS revealed evident separated clustering between the control and GEI groups using supervised partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). We designed an integrated metabonomics study for identifying reliable biomarkers of GEI using a time-course analysis of discriminating metabolites in this experiment. The metabonomics analysis showed alterations in a number of biomarkers (21 from serum). The meaningful biomarkers of GEI provide new insights into the pathophysiological changes and molecular mechanisms of GEI, including the disturbances in oxidative stress and neuroinflammatory reaction, as well as in metabolism of lipids, glucose, and amino acids in rats, suggesting that the process of GEI in humans is likely to be comprehensive and dynamic. Correlations between the GEI group and the biomarkers identified from the rat model will be further explored to elucidate the metabolic pathways responsible for GEI in the human body.

The abnormalities of coagulation and fibrinolysis in acute lung injury caused by gas explosion

Acute lung injury (ALI) caused by gas explosion is common, and warrants research on the underlying mechanisms. Specifically, the role of abnormalities of coagulation and fibrinolysis in this process has not been defined. It was hypothesized that the abnormal coagulation and fibrinolysis promoted ALI caused by gas explosion. Based on the presence of ALI, 74 cases of gas explosion injury were divided into the ALI and non-ALI groups. The results of prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen (FIB), and platelet count (PLT) were collected within 24 hours and compared between the groups. ALI models caused by gas explosion were established in Sprague Dawley rats, and injuries were evaluated using hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining and histopathological scoring. Moreover, the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected to examine thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT), tissue factor (TF), tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The patients in ALI group had shorter PT and longer APTT, raised concentration of FIB and decreased number of PLT, as compared to the non-ALI group. In ALI rats, the HE staining revealed red blood cells in alveoli and interstitial thickening within 2 hours which peaked at 72 hours. The levels of TAT/TF in the BALF increased continually until the seventh day, while the PAI-1 was raised after 24 hours and 7 days. The TFPI was elevated after 2 hours and 24 hours, and then decreased after 72 hours. Abnormalities in coagulation and fibrinolysis in lung tissues play a role in ALI caused by gas explosion.

Effectiveness and mechanism of carbamide/fly ash cenosphere with bilayer spherical shell structure as explosion suppressant of coal dust

This study aims to eliminate or suppress explosion accidents in powder preparation and storage systems of coal dust. The modified fly ash cenosphere (FAC) was used as an inner spherical shell carrier with carbamide impregnated. Carbamide/FAC composite suppressant with bilayer spherical shell was prepared by vacuum freeze-drying. The flame propagation and explosion performances of coal were tested, respectively. The results showed that the surface-loaded carbamide particles had a particle size of ∼4 nm. With the increasing content of carbamide/FAC composite suppressant, the maximum flame length gradually decreased, and the explosion suppression effect was gradually improved. Nearly complete explosion suppression of coal could be achieved with an added amount of 40 wt% carbamide/FAC composite suppressant. The carbamide loaded in carbamide/FAC composite suppressant mainly acted in the 0-τ₁ stage to weaken (dP/dt)_max. FAC mainly but not solely acted on the stage of τ₁-τ₂ to decrease P_max. Carbamide particles were highly efficient and responsive. The suppression mechanism of carbamide/FAC composite suppressant was proposed, which was micro-nano multiscale complementary effect and deceleration-depressurization coupling effect.

Quantitative research on gas explosion inhibition by water mist

Water mist as an effective explosion inhibitor has wide application prospect to prevent and reduce gas explosion hazard. The quantitative study of gas explosion inhibition with water mist provides the groundwork for the design of gas explosion suppression system. In this paper, the influence of the initial droplet sizes and spraying concentrations on explosion inhibition were numerically studied in a 2D numerical model. Under the initial spraying concentrations in the range of ∼1.5 kg/m³, the inhibition effect of water mist on the explosion overpressure was not significant. The inhibition effect of water mist was mainly reflected in the suppression of the explosion flame temperature. When the initial droplet sizes were in the range of 50-150 μm, the flame length was obviously reduced. But when the initial droplet sizes were less than 50 μm or more than 150 μm, the inhibition to reduce flame length begin to weaken. The results of this study provide the theoretical basis of the suppression technology for gas explosion.