The study analyzes potential gas explosion as a result of auto-ignition. Auto-ignition occurs in a system formed due to the mixing of combustion hot products with the initial cold mix containing fuel. These situations may occur in turbine engines in case of flame slip and blow-off, explosion products’ flow from one room to another, or to the gas-contaminated open space. The process of formation of systems studied in the article is based on the balance of total enthalpy of mixing combustion hot products of a hydrocarbon mixture with air and a cold initial mix containing fuel. The greatest attention has been paid to the potential explosion in the open space. The potential explosion of hydrocarbon mixings by a simplified kinetic mechanism, taking into account the low- and high-temperature nature of hydrocarbon oxidation, supplemented by mixing conditions has been considered. Inter alia, a potential explosion of highly diluted mixtures, i.e., mixtures with fuel content below the concentration limit for flame propagation have been considered. The induction periods within the temperature range Tx = 600900 К have been determined upon mixing of propane-based systems as the initial link of higher hydrocarbons with similar oxidation nature. The dependence of final temperature of the system after auto-ignition as compared with the initial temperature on the mixing time has been specified. The induction period corresponding with the instantaneous mixing has been used as a reference induction period. Therefore, the impact of chemical reactions at the moment of mixing has been excluded. The induction period has been measured from the moment of the end of mixing time. Its value decreased along with the increase in mixing time. For the mixing time above 10–12 induction periods at instantaneous mixing, the proportion of energy emitted within the auto-ignition process decreased sharply. The conditions required for the implementation of auto-ignition of such systems have been described.
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