The explosion characteristics
of premixed gases under different
equivalence ratios (1.0–3.0) and inert gas addition (5–20%)
are experimentally investigated, and sensitivity analysis of the radical
reactions is carried out using the USC Mech II model to analyze the
molar fraction of radicals. The results show that at high equivalence
ratios, inert gas has little effect on flame stability. The addition
of an inert gas reduces the tensile rate in the early stage of flame
growth. At high equivalence ratios, CO
2
inhibits explosive
flame propagation twice as effectively as N
2
. Due to the
large heat capacity and chemical kinetic effects, CO
2
has
a stronger inhibitory effect on the explosion pressure than N
2
, and the inhibition efficiency on the explosion strength
is nearly twice that high. To further analyze the effect of different
inert gas addition ratios on chemical kinetics, sensitivity analysis,
and molar fraction simulations were performed. The thermal and chemical
kinetic effects of CO
2
cause later generation of H and
OH radicals and the partial chain reaction involving CO
2
causes a lower peak of H radicals than the peak of H radicals generated
under an N
2
atmosphere. However, CO
2
is a direct
reactant and the third body to produce a small chemical kinetic effect.