Equipment and facilities
Detonation tube
The detonation tube is used to characterise the propagation of gas and gas mixture explosions in pipes and to obtain information about the internal loads which arise.
If explosive substances from the chemical industry are transported in pipes and apparatus, they must be so designed that they can withstand a detonation or only burst in specified positions. When using existing pipes for transporting different and varying new substances, the transport conditions such as flow rate and pressure must be adapted to the safety engineering characteristics of the substances.
The detonation tube is used to test both the dynamic load capacity of the pipes and apparatus as well as the safety characteristics of the transported substances.
The detonation tube consists of several steel pipe segments with a diameter of 200 mm and a total length of 30 m. Pressure measuring instruments are attached at various points which measure the side on explosion pressure affecting the pipe. It is possible to place a sooted metal foil inside the tube in order to measure detonation cell width.
For the design of pipes and protection devices it is important to know the detonation characteristics such as the detonation propensity under certain physical conditions, the detonation pressure and the deflagration-to-detonation run-up distance of gas mixtures.
For the execution of a test the finished homogenised gas mixture is fed into the detonation tube. When the initial specified pressure is achieved, the non-return valves are closed and the mixture is ignited at one end of the detonation tube. It is possible to apply different kinds of ignition sources. The pressures vs. time curves are recorded at different points along the pipe. The burned gases are vented off afterwards .
A high pressure device (suitable up to 1000 bar) is in preparation.
BAM Equipment and facilities | Division 2.2 | Test facilities on the BAM Test Site Technical Safety
Department 2
Chemical Safety Engineering