FLAMMABILITY LIMITS ESTIMATION IN HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEMS. APPLICATION TO THE DIRECT SINTHESIS OF H2O2

C. M. PIQUERAS; JOSÉ E. SIERRA-PALLARES; JUAN GARCÍA SERNA; MARÍA J. COCERO

Natal

Conferencia; II Iberoamerican Conference of Supercritical Fluids 2010 (Prosciba 2010); 2010

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte – UFRN

The Lower Flammability Limit (LFL) of a combustible substance is the minimum composition in air over which a flame can propagate and defines the range of fuel concentration for flame propagation to occur. At high pressures, the flammability data available are scarce and the estimation of these limits is the only safety instrument that can be used. In this work we present a method for the prediction of the LFL at high pressures based on the calculated Adiabatic Flame Temperature. A group contribution equation of state (GC-EoS) has been selected to predict thermodynamic properties of the mixture, i.e. residual enthalpy, heat capacity and others. An application to hydrogen-oxygen-carbon dioxide system for the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide production is analyzed thoroughly. The influence of pressure on the low flammability region of combustible mixtures using near critical and supercritical carbon dioxide as diluent is discussed in detail.