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An experimental investigation has been performed into the venting of methane‐air explosions in heating plants. The investigation was performed on a realistic scale in a 38.5 m3 enclosure. The first part of the experimental program concerns the influence of the “usual” parameters such as the vent opening area, the vent opening pressure, the ignition location and the vent opening configuration. The second part of the investigation concerns the influence of factors related to heating plants. Thus the effect of introducing a large obstacle, that is the central heating apparatus, and the effect of venting through a dormer window (heating plants are often located in the cellar of a building allowing explosion venting via a dormer window only) are investigated.

There has been considerable progress over the last decade in validating models to predict the loading resulting from an explosion in an offshore module. However, much of the experimental work that provided the validation of the models has involved using idealized gas clouds, generally natural gas or methane at a single concentration throughout the whole volume. This paper describes an experimental project and modeling work undertaken to provide a more realistic representation of the risks posed by gas explosions in offshore platforms. The project involved laboratory, medium and large scale experiments, examining the effects of realistic fuel mixtures, realistic gas release conditions and nonhomogeneous gas clouds filling only a portion of the module. Comparison with gas dispersion and explosion models was also carried out.

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