FLAME ARRESTER

Abstract

Examples include releasing flammable gas from a container interior, via through-passage gaps of a metal structure cylindrical flame barrier secured in a hole through a wall of the container, to an exterior region as released flammable gas, and combusting the released flammable gas in the exterior region. The cylindrical flame barrier extends a height, has an internal facing end that faces the container interior and has an external end that extends from top side of the wall to the other end, by an amount least a fifth of the cylindrical barrier's overall height. The external end absorbs combustion heat energy. The projecting portion radiates the absorbed heat energy. The radiating is determined in part by the projecting height, and is configured to maintain the interior facing end at a temperature below the combustion temperature of the gas.

Claims

1. A method for releasing flammable gas from a container and removing harmful effects, comprising: releasing the flammable gas from an interior of the container to an exterior region as released flammable gas, through a plurality of through-passage gaps of a flame arrestor secured in a hole through a wall of the container, the hole extending from an underside of the wall, which faces the interior, to a top side of the wall, which faces the exterior region wherein each through-passage gap has a first end flush with the underside and has a projecting portion that projects out from the top side of the wall to a second end by a projection amount, wherein the second end is spaced from the first end by a height and the projection amount is at least a fifth of said height; combusting the released flammable gas in the exterior region; absorbing by the flame arrestor of heat energy from the combusting; and dissipating by the flame arrestor the absorbed heat energy by dissipation mechanisms including radiating the absorbed heat energy from an outer surface of the projecting portion, wherein the radiating the absorbed heat has a rate, the rate being based at least in part on the projection amount, and the rate is sufficient to maintain the respective first ends of the through-gaps below an ignition temperature of the flammable gas.

2. The method of claim 1 for releasing flammable gas from a container and removing harmful effects, wherein the projecting portion of the flame arrestor forms an outside lateral surface that extends around the projecting portion and faces outward toward the external region in radial directions normal to said height.

3. The method of claim 2 for releasing flammable gas from a container and removing harmful effects, wherein: the hole is aligned to a center and is defined by lateral surfaces of the wall that surround and face toward the center, the outside lateral surface of the flame arrestor further extends in the height direction to include an inserted portion that faces radially outward toward the lateral surfaces of the wall, and the flame arrestor is secured in the hole by a securing structure that includes a metal sheet.

4. The method of claim 3 for releasing flammable gas from a container and removing harmful effects, wherein: the metal sheet includes a portion that surrounds and contacts the outside lateral surface of the projecting portion and a portion that extends between the inserted portion of the outside lateral surface of the flame arrestor and the lateral surfaces of the wall.

5. The method of claim 4 for releasing flammable gas from a container and removing harmful effects, wherein: the mechanisms for dissipating the absorbed heat energy further include conducting at least a portion of the absorbed heat energy from the outside lateral surface of the projecting portion to the metal sheet that surrounds and contacts the outside lateral surface.

6. The method of claim 4 for releasing flammable gas from a container and removing harmful effects, wherein the radiating includes radiating from an outer surface of the portion of the metal sheet that surrounds the outside lateral surface of the projecting portion of the cylindrical flame barrier.

7. The method of claim 4 for releasing flammable gas from a container and removing harmful effects, wherein the dissipation mechanisms further include conduction of at least a portion of the absorbed heat to the flammable gas flowing the through-passages.

8. The method of claim 1 for releasing flammable gas from a container and removing harmful effects, wherein; the flame arrestor has a configuration comprising at least a combination of a thickness of the wall, a diameter of the hole, a diameter of the through-passage gaps, a number of the through passage gaps, and the projection amount, and the configuration provides an equilibrium state, during the releasing and the combusting, between the absorbing by the flame arrestor of heat energy from the combusting, and the dissipating by the flame arrestor of the absorbed heat energy by dissipation mechanisms including the heat radiation and the conducting of at least portion of the absorbed heat to the flammable gas flowing the through-passages.

9. The method of claim 1 for releasing flammable gas from a container and removing harmful effects, wherein: the through-passage gaps are formed by a cylindrical flame barrier that comprises a coiling about a winding core in the form of a sleeve, the coiling including a coiling of a plain metal strip together with a corrugated metal strip, the corrugations of the corrugated metal strip arranged to face surfaces of the plain metal strip, and the method further comprises securing the cylindrical flame barrier is secured to the wall by an attachment device that includes: a first fastening element secured to the underside of the wall and extending across the hole, a second fastening element that extends over the hole, spaced above the top surface of the wall by a distance corresponding to the projection amount, and a connecting element that extends through the sleeve and connects the first fastening element to the second fastening element.

10. An apparatus for preventing explosion in a container during a releasing and combusting of a flammable gas from the container, comprising: a wall configured to attach to and cover an opening to an interior of the container, the wall having a first side and a second side and when attached to the opening of the container the first side faces toward the interior and the second side faces opposite toward an exterior region, and the wall includes a through-opening that passes through the wall from the first side to the second side; and cylindrical flame barrier, secured in the through-opening of the wall, each comprising a plurality of through-passage gaps, each through-passage gap having a first end flush with the first side of the wall and a projecting portion that projects out from the second side of the wall to a second end by a projection amount, wherein the second end is spaced from the first end by a height and the projection amount is at least a fifth of said height, wherein the cylindrical flame barrier is configured to perform: a releasing of the flammable gas into a respective volume of the exterior region, as a released flammable gas, via respective flows through the cylindrical flame barrier's plurality of through-passage gaps, an absorbing of heat energy from a combusting of the respective released flammable gas, and a dissipating of the absorbed heat energy by dissipation mechanisms including a radiating of the absorbed heat energy from an outer surface of the projecting portion, the radiating having a rate based at least in part on the projection amount and the rate is sufficient to maintain the respective first ends of the through-gaps below an ignition temperature of the flammable gas.

11. The of claim 10, wherein the projecting portion of the cylindrical flame barrier forms an outside lateral surface that extends around the projecting portion and faces outward toward the external region in radial directions normal to said height.

12. The flame arrester of claim 11, wherein: the through-opening is aligned to a center and is defined by lateral surfaces of the wall that surround and face toward the center, the outside lateral surface of the cylindrical flame barrier further extends in the height direction to include an inserted portion that faces radially outward toward the lateral surfaces of the wall, and the cylindrical flame barrier flame is secured in the through-opening by a securing structure that includes a metal sheet.

13. The flame arrester of claim 12, wherein: the metal sheet includes a portion that surrounds and contacts the outside lateral surface of the projecting portion and a portion that extends between the inserted portion of the outside lateral surface of the flame arrestor and the lateral surfaces of the wall.

14. The flame arrester of claim 10, wherein; the flame arrestor has a configuration comprising at least a combination of a thickness of the wall, a diameter of the through-opening, a diameter of the through-passage gaps, a number of the through passage gaps, and the projection amount, and the configuration provides an equilibrium state, during the releasing and the combusting, between the absorbing by the flame arrestor of heat energy from the combusting, and the dissipating by the cylindrical flame barrier of the absorbed heat energy by dissipation mechanisms including the radiating of the absorbed heat energy the projecting portion and the conducting of at least portion of the absorbed heat to the flammable gas flowing the through-passages.

15. The flame arrester of claim 10, wherein: the cylindrical flame barrier flame arrestor comprises a coiling, about a winding core in the form of a sleeve, of a plain metal strip together with a corrugated metal strip, the through-passage gaps are formed by corrugations of the corrugated metal strip and respective facing surfaces of the plain metal strip, and the cylindrical flame barrier is secured to the wall by an attachment device wherein the attachment device includes: a first fastening element secured to the underside of the wall and extending across the through-opening, a second fastening element that extends over the through-opening, spaced above the top surface of the wall by a distance corresponding to the projection amount, and a connecting element that extends through the sleeve and connects the first fastening element to the second fastening element.

Description

[0024] The invention will be explained in more detail in the following text with reference to exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawing, in which:

[0025] FIG. 1 shows a vertical section through a flame arrester according to a first exemplary embodiment of the invention, having a single flame barrier;

[0026] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view obliquely from above of a flame arrester according to a second exemplary embodiment of the invention, having a multiplicity of flame barriers which are mounted to a common wall;

[0027] FIG. 3 shows a schematic plan view of the arrangement according to FIG. 2;

[0028] FIG. 4 shows a partial vertical sectional illustration of the arrangement according to FIGS. 2 and 3;

[0029] FIG. 5 shows a vertical section through a flame arrester according to a third exemplary embodiment of the invention, having a flame barrier in the form of an annular cylinder;

[0030] FIG. 6 shows a schematic perspective view obliquely from above of the embodiment according to FIG. 5; and

[0031] FIG. 7 shows a plan view of the embodiment according to FIG. 5.

[0032] FIG. 1 shows a connection part 1 which is not specified in more detail. The connection part 1 merges from a tubular line cross section 2 into a conical enlargement 3 and opens into an annular fastening flange 4. A wall 6 in the form of a metal plate is crewed into the fastening flange 4 by means of screw connections 5.

[0033] In continuation of the tubular line cross section 2, a circular opening 7 is provided in the wall 6, a disk-shaped flame barrier 8 having a circular cross section being inserted into said circular opening such that an underside 9 of the flame barrier 8 is aligned with an underside 10, directed toward the tubular line cross section 2, of the wall 6. A first fastening element 11 in the form of a rod is fastened to the underside 10 of the wall 6 by screw connections 12 and thus rests against the underside 9 of the flame barrier 8. The tubular line cross section 2 and the conical enlargement 3 form a region 13 at risk on account of explosive or flammable gases, said region being closed off by the wall 6 and the flame barrier 8 inserted with a matching fit into the opening 7 in the wall 6. The top side 14 of the wall that is opposite the underside 10 of the wall 6 is directed toward an external region 15 of the flame arrester, into which the flame barrier 8 projects with a predominant part of its height and is closed off on the end side by way of a top side 16.

[0034] Located on the top side 16 of the flame barrier 8 is a second fastening element 17 which is likewise formed by a rod in the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1. The rod is plugged through a central opening in a bolt-like connecting element 18. The connecting element 18 projects beyond the underside 9 of the flame barrier and has likewise here a through-opening through which the first fastening element 11 is likewise plugged. By way of the two fastening elements 11, 17, the flame barrier 8 is thus secured in the axial direction, while it is fixed in the radial direction, that is to say with its circumferential wall 19 in the opening 7 in the wall 6.

[0035] The circumferential wall 19 of the flame barrier 8 can be formed by a thin metal sheet having a thickness of at most 1 mm and can be fixed to the flame barrier 8 by laser spot-welding or the like.

[0036] In a preferred embodiment, the flame barrier 8 is produced in that a plain metal strip is coiled together with a corrugated metal strip onto a winding core 20 such that the corrugations of the corrugated metal strip form, between two coil layers of the plain metal strip, defined through-flow gaps through which gas can flow axially out of the at-risk region 13 into the external region 15. The length of the through-passage gaps is thus determined by the width of the two coiled-together metal strips. The winding core 20 is formed as a sleeve having an axial cavity such that the bolt-like connecting element 18 can be inserted with a matching fit into the internal space of the winding core 20.

[0037] FIGS. 2 and 3 show a second embodiment of the invention with a wall 6 which closes off an at-risk region 13 (FIG. 4). The wall 6 has nine openings 7 which are arranged on a circular path and into which flame barriers 8 are inserted with a matching fit, said flamer barriers 8 projecting out of the top side 14 of the wall 6 with a predominant part of their height and being fixed with a rod-like second fastening element 17 which is fixed to the underside 10 of the wall 6 by a central bolt-like connecting element 18.

[0038] Located in the internal region of the nine flame barriers 8 are four further flame barriers 8 which are inserted into corresponding openings 7 in the wall 6. The flame barriers 8 have a much smaller diameter than the flame barriers 8. The four flame barriers 8 are arranged with their central connecting elements 18 likewise on a circular path around a central point of the wall 6 The wall 6 is, as shown in FIG. 4, fastened by way of numerous screw connections 5 to an annular fastening flange 4 of a connection part 1.

[0039] The flame barriers 8, 8 are fastened in the same way as was explained with reference to the first exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1.

[0040] The arrangement of the numerous flame barriers 8, 8 on the wall 6 affords the advantage that very large parts of the circumferential walls 19 of the flame barriers 8, 8 project out of the top side of the wall 6 and form, together with the top sides 16 of the flame barriers 8, large surfaces from which heat is emitted into the external region 15.

[0041] The third exemplary embodiment of the invention, illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 7, shows a connection part 1 which is the same as the connection part 1 in FIG. 1. The wall 6 in the form of a plate is fastened to the connection part 1 via screw connections 5 which are configured in a longer manner here. The wall 6 has likewise a circular central opening 7 into which a flame barrier 21 in the form of a circular cylinder is inserted such that within the flame barrier 21 a circular cylindrical internal space 22 which communicates with the external region 15 is produced. Inserted here between the annular fastening flange 4 of the connection part 1 and the wall 6 is an intermediate piece 23 by way of which the guide ducts 24, 25 are formed. One guide duct 24 is connected to the explosive region 13 while one guide duct 25 has a radial end 26, which forms an inlet opening for air from the external region 15, and an axial central end 27 which opens into the internal space 22 of the flame barrier 21.

[0042] The guide duct 24, however, continues the explosive region 13 axially and opens into an annular space 28 which is located underneath the annular space which is provided with through-passage gaps by the flame barrier 21 and through which explosive or flammable gas can be blown into the external region 15 in order optionally to be combusted directly there. In this case, a sealing piece 29 ensures that no explosive or flammable gas passes into the internal space 22 of the flame barrier 21. A circumferential wall 30 closes off the annular space 28 radially from the outside.

[0043] FIG. 6 illustrates the structure of the flame arrester according to the third exemplary embodiment of the invention in a perspective view. It can be seen that a plurality of mouth openings 26 for drawing in air from the external region 15 can be provided in order to effect additional cooling of the flame barrier 21 by way of a convection flow through the internal space 22 of the flame barrier 21. However, the major part of the cooling of the flame barrier 21 takes place by emission of heat via the large surface of the flame barrier 21 which projects out of the top side 14 of the wall 6 into the external region 15.

[0044] FIG. 7 illustrates, again in plan view, an annular cross-sectional area 31 of the flame barrier 21 in which axial through-passage gaps are located close together and are separated from one another by the corrugation of a corrugated metal strip on the one hand and by the coil layers of the plain metal strip on the other hand.

[0045] The energy emission by heat radiation at the large surfaces of the hollow-cylindrically formed flame barrier 21 is supported in this embodiment by a convection flow of air out of the external region 15 through the internal space 22 of the flame barrier 21. The heat dissipation from the flame barrier 21 is supported by this convection flow. Of course, it is possible not just to form a self-adjusting convection flow but also to generate a forced flow through the internal space 22 by means of a fan. Furthermore, it is possible to form a flow circulation not with air but with some other inert gas.

[0046] Of course, it is also possible to form, with the flame barriers 21, an arrangement in which a plurality of flame barriers 21 are inserted into corresponding openings 7 in the wall 6 in order to provide a higher through-flow capacity.

[0047] However, the flame barriers 21 are not optimized for high through-flow capacities but afford high energy emission into the external region 15 such that for the first time an endurance burning proof flame arrester can also be created which is endurance burning proof for gases of explosion group IIC, such as hydrogen for example, for gases of explosion group IIB, and also for other gases having a high energy content. Thus, an endurance burning proof flame arrester for a stoichiometric hydrogen/air mixture composition has successfully been achieved with a flame barrier having a diameter of 65 mm, an internal space 22 having a diameter of 51 mm and a height of 50 mm, with the formation of a maximum gap width of 0.2 mm in the annular cross-sectional surface.

[0048] By contrast, in a comparative test, in which the outside diameter of the flame barrier 21 was increased to 75 mm, but the diameter of the internal space 22 and the height were kept at 51 mm and 50 mm, respectively, flame propagation occurred at a maximum gap width of 0.2 mm. Thus, it is clear that, for the explosion group tested here, the dimensioning of the overall flow cross section of the annular cross-sectional area 31 has to be dimensioned carefully in relation to the emitting surfaces of the flame barrier 21, in order to achieve the formation of an endurance burning proof flame arrester for gases even of explosion group IIC.