Comparison of empirical and semi-empirical calculation methods for venting of gas explosions

Venting is a widely applied method to protect process equipment from being destroyed by internal explosions. The key problem in venting is the appropriate design of the vent area necessary for an effective release of the material. For gas explosions different calculation methods exist, but there are no clear recommendations which one should be preferred for the practical cases under consideration. The present paper gives a review of different calculation methods, their ranges of validity, their physical background and applicability. The presented examples include a comparison of computed reduced explosion pressures for methane-air, propane-air and hydrogen-air mixtures with experimental data and two fictitious test cases. The results of different methods show a wide range of scatter, however some recommendations for their applicability can be given.

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