Flammability limit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flammability limits, also called flammable limits give the proportion of combustible gases in a mixture, between which limits this mixture is flammable. Gas mixtures consisting of combustible, oxidizing, and inert gases are only flammable under certain conditions. The lower flammability limit (LFL) describes the leanest mixture that is still flammable, i.e. the mixture with the smallest fraction of combustible gas, while the upper flammability limit (UFL) gives the richest flammable mixture. Increasing the fraction of inert gases in a mixture raises the LFL and decreases UFL.
Flammability limits of mixtures of several combustible gases can be calculated using Le Chatelier's mixing rule for combustible volume fractions xi:
and similar for UFLmix.
Temperature and pressure also influences flammability limits. Higher temperature results in lower LFL and higher UFL, while greater pressure increases both values. The effect of pressure is very small at pressures below 10 bar and difficult to predict, since it has hardly been studied.
