High Altitude Blast Generation System: Detonable Gas Mixing Experiments

The overall objective of this program was to investigate experimentally the mixing processes occuring in in-flight ballons of the 'bar-bell' or ballonet type in which initially separate gases (methane and oxygen) are allowed to mix to form a detonable gas mixture during ascent to cruise or test altitude. This investigation has been carried out by testing appropriately scaled model balloons in the Ballistic Research Laboratories' Blast Sphere Facility. During two weeks of tests in the Blast Sphere, a range of simulated altitudes from sea level to 50,000 feet. In addition, a series of seven balloon detonations was performed at a simulated altitude of approximately 35,000 feet. (Modified author abstract)