THERMAL AND MECHANICAL RESPONSES OF CNG TUBE TRAILER CYLINDERS IN FIRE SCENARIOS

摘要

A tube trailer is mainly used for storing and transporting compressed natural gas. They have fire accidents every year. Because the filling medium is flammable and explosive, it is very necessary to study the safety of the tube trailer in the fire environment. Different fire sources and conditions on the thermal and mechanical performance were examined within the tube trailer cylinders. S-Katz and Python methods were used to calculate the maximum temperature and pressure that the medium in the cylinder could reach under conditions of tire combustion and natural gas fire at a working pressure of 20 MPa. The stress state of the cylinder walls at maximum pressure was also calculated, in addition to an assessment of the safety of tube trailer cylinders in a fire environment based on changes in the mechanical properties of the cylinder material at high temperatures. Results showed that during localised fires originating from combusting tires or natural gas leakage, the rising pressure in the cylinder will not result in the tube trailer cylinder to fail and burst.