Explosive Characteristics Analysis of Gasoline–Air Mixtures Within Horizontal Oil Tanks

Horizontal oil tanks, like other oil storage containers, carry the risk of explosion when gasoline–air mixtures are ignited. With the widespread application of horizontal oil tanks in the petrochemical industry, attention to safety risks is increasing. However, currently, a limited amount of experimental research on such tanks exists. To explore the characteristics of gasoline–air mixtures combustion within the confined space of horizontal oil tanks, this study constructed a medium-scale simulated horizontal oil tank (L/D = 3, V = 1.0 m3) platform. By investigating the effects of different initial gasoline–air mixture volume fractions and ignition positions on explosion overpressure characteristic parameters, an analysis of the combustion characteristics was conducted. It was found that the most dangerous gasoline–air mixture volume fraction is 1.9% when ignited at the top position and 2.1% at the middle. It was also observed that the ignition position has a significant impact on the variation in explosion overpressure characteristic parameters, with ignition at the middle position resulting having a greater explosive force compared to ignition at the top position. Furthermore, using ignition at the middle position as an example, a study was conducted on the flame morphology characteristics at initial gasoline–air mixture volume fractions of 1.1%, 1.9%, and 2.7%. The conclusions from this research deepen our understanding of the explosion characteristics of different containers, providing theoretical insights for the safe storage and transportation of oil materials in horizontal oil tanks.