Study on the hydrogen-air premixed flame propagation characteristics in semi-open space with obstacle

In semi-open space, obstacles have the potential to accelerate flame propagation and increase hydrogen-air deflagration pressure. Therefore, this paper is dedicated to exploring the influence of obstacles on the premixed hydrogen deflagration, which is crucial for enhancing the safety of industrial production and energy utilization. By using Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model in OpenFOAM, this study investigates the deflagration characteristics of premixed hydrogen in the presence of three different shaped obstacles. The analysis results reveal that under obstacle conditions, the flame shape can be categorized into four phases: the hemispherical phase, finger-shaped phase, jet phase, and vortex phase. The velocity of the flame front is nearly same for elliptical and rectangular obstacle condition, but it is 36% higher compared to triangular obstacle condition. The impact of triangular and rectangular obstacles on explosion overpressure is less than that of triangular obstacles on explosion overpressure, but it is 16% higher than that of elliptical obstacle. Analyzing the vorticity generated by different obstacle reveals that the vorticity produced by rectangular obstacle is twice as much as that produced by elliptical obstacle, whereas the vorticity produced by triangular obstacle is 2.4 times greater than that produced by elliptical obstacle. The acceleration of hydrogen-air explosion process occurs due to the narrow space created by obstacle and pipeline walls, and the shape of obstacle significantly influences this acceleration. •A method is proposed that accurately captures the unstable propagation process of hydrogen-air deflagration flame.•The dynamic characteristic of the flame is analyzed based on OpenFOAM.•The mechanism of flame acceleration caused by different shapes of obstacles is analyzed.