Dispersion and explosion characteristics of unconfined detonable aerosol and its consequence analysis to humans and buildings

Abstract To elucidate the dispersion and explosion characteristics of an unconfined detonable aerosol, experiments were performed with propylene oxide, JP-10 and petroleum ether. Unmanned air vehicles, a high-speed camera, infrared thermal imaging and a pressure-measurement system were used to record the experimental data. The results showed that the mean value of the fractal dimension of fuel aerosol edges decreased with increasing liquid viscosity. The initial diameter of the explosion cavity (the zone within the inner interface of the liquid shell) decreased with the increase of viscosity. An initiator charge of 500 g TNT was enough to induce a detonation in the aerosols (pure propylene oxide, 30 % petroleum ether and 70 % propylene oxide mixtures). After the aerosol was ignited, a secondary explosion phenomenon was observed and its characteristics were discussed. Furthermore, consequence analysis to determine the damage to humans and buildings were quantitatively assessed by using PROBIT equations. The relative-safety radii for humans and buildings were also obtained.