Suppression by Water Mist in HMX Explosions

The inhibitory effect of water mist on suspended HMX explosions and stacked HMX combustions was investigated. The impact of water mist on HMX explosions was assessed by analyzing variations in flame propagation, explosion pressure and temperature, while its effect on HMX combustions was evaluated by examining changes in the flame extinguishing time. The results reveal that both the explosion pressure and temperature of suspended HMX increase with an increase in mass. Water mist significantly influences the suppression of HMX explosions. The attenuation of explosion pressure and temperature caused by water mist in HMX explosions increases with higher spray pressures. At a spray pressure of 4.0 MPa, the explosion pressure of suspended HMX was measured at only 0.2402 MPa, representing a reduction of 52.0% in peak pressure compared to the scenario without water mist, where the explosion pressure was recorded at 0.5008 MPa. The explosion temperature was recorded at 132 °C, which is 84.3% lower than the temperature of suspended HMX explosions without water mist, measured at 840 °C. The extinguishing time of stacked HMX combustion decreases with increasing spray pressure. At a spray pressure of 4.0 MPa, the extinguishing time of stacked HMX combustion was only 49.00 ms.