Effect of Temperature on Laminar Flame Velocity for Hydrogen-Air Mixtures at Reduced Pressures

The work was done with respect to hydrogen safety of ITER vacuum vessel in cases of loss of cooling and loss of vacuum accidents. Experiments were conducted at sub-atmospheric pressures from 1 bar to 200 mbar and elevated temperatures up to 300 oC. Hydrogen concentration was changed from lower to upper flammability limits in all the range of pressures and temperatures. The experiments were performed in a spherical explosion bomb equipped with two quartz windows. The flame propagation velocity was measured using pressure method and high speed shadow cinematography. The theoretical flame velocities were calculated by Cantera code using Lutz and Mueller mechanisms. The influence of the initial temperature and pressure conditions on the laminar flame speed SL, overall reaction order n and Markstein length LM are presented in this work and compared with the results of a theoretical model.