DETONABILITY OF AIR MIXTURES OF POLYETHYLENE PYROLYSIS PRODUCTS
Based on the measured values of deflagration-to-detonation transition run-up distance and time, the detonability ofair mixtures ofpolyethylene (PE) pyrolysis products (pyrogas) ofdifferent composition is determined in the standard pulsed detonation tube. The pyrogas was obtained in a reactor at decomposition temperatures of650-850 ◦С. Chromatographic analysis ofthe pyrogas showed that at high decomposition temperature (850 ◦ C), it mainly consists of hydrogen, methane, ethylene, and ethane and has a molecular weight of 5-10 kg/kmol and at low decomposition temperature (650 ◦C), it mainly consists of methane, hydrogen, ethylene, ethane, propane, and higher hydrocarbons and has a molecular weight of 24-27 kg/kmol. It has been shown that in the fuel-air mixtures with the equivalence ratio ranging from 0.6 to 1.6 at normal pressure, the pyrogas ofPE possesses the detonability close to that ofhomogeneous air mixtures of ethylene and propylene. Onthe one hand, this indicates a high explosion hazard ofPE pyrogas which can be formed, for example, in industrial and domestic fires. On the other hand, PE pyrogas can be considered as a promising fuel for solid-fuel detonation ramjets.