Transient reaction process and mechanism of cornstarch/air and CH₄/cornstarch/air in a closed container: Quantitative research based on experiments and simulations

Both dust/air explosion and flammable gas/dust/air explosion are common forms of energy release. Experiments and simulation models with a multi-step chemical reaction mechanism were used to study the intensity parameters and mechanism of the CH₄/air explosion, cornstarch/air explosion and CH₄/cornstarch/air explosion in a closed container. Results showed that the peak overpressure, maximum flame temperature, and average flame propagation speed of the stoichiometric CH₄/air explosion reach 0.84 MPa, 2614 K and 3.5 m/s, respectively. The optimal concentration of cornstarch explosion is 750 g/m³, and its peak overpressure, maximum flame temperature and average flame propagation speed are 0.76 MPa, 2098 K and 1.77 m/s, respectively. For a three-components system, adding methane can significantly increase the explosive intensity and combustion performance of cornstarch. The explosive intensity parameters (peak overpressure, maximum flame temperature, average flame propagation speed) of a certain concentration of cornstarch first increase and then decrease with the increase of methane concentration. The maximum explosion intensity parameters of a three-components system with a certain concentration of lean-methane/air are higher than that of single-phase, but always lower than that of the stoichiometric methane/air. Moreover, the mutual coordination of dust and combustible gas in energy release and the mutual competition mechanism in oxygen consumption are described.