A Full-Scale Experimental Investigation of Natural Gas Explosion in a 710-M Long Utility Tunnel with Multiple Pipelines

作     者：Chen, Di Zhang, Huaixin Li, Jun Liu, Kuirong Wang, Yuwei Huang, Yuanjie Mao, Zhenglin Wu, Chengqing 

作者机构：Computer Science School Southwest Petroleum University Chengdu610500 China School of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Technology Sydney SydneyNSW2007 Australia PipeChina Southwest Pipeline Co. Ltd Sichuan Chengdu610000 China Sinopec Southwest Oil & Gas Company China Research Institute of Safety Environmental Protection and Technology Supervision PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company China Research Institute of Exploration and Development PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company China 

出 版 物：《SSRN》 

年 卷 期：2023年

核心收录：

主　　题：Natural gas 

摘      要：Natural gas pipelines can pose significant threats to the safe operation of utility tunnels that house multiple critical infrastructure systems. Currently, there is controversy regarding whether pipelines will suffer damage from gas explosions, and no full-scale gas explosion test in utility tunnels has been found to be published to date. In this study, two 1:1-scale experiments were conducted for the first time in a 710-m long tunnel with crosssectional dimensions of 3.2 m × 2.6 m. Three pipelines, constructed according to industrial standards and with lengths of around 25 m, were used to investigate their damage behavior. The development of flow fields, such as flame images, flame signals, temperature, and overpressure, as well as pipeline responses were comprehensively captured. The results revealed a positive and a negative feedback loop drove the variations in overpressure in the combustion region. Furthermore, a significant pressure drop was observed when the airflow passed a local expansion. The experiments also demonstrated that while pipelines inside utility tunnels are unlikely to be directly damaged by gas explosions, accessories such as racks are at high risk of being severely destroyed. The findings provide essential guidance for the safety design of utility tunnels that handle flammable gases. © 2023, The Authors. All rights reserved.