Gas Flashback Hazards Loom Large?Wofly Flame Arrestors Build a Solid Line of Defense for Industrial Safety

Gas flashback and flashback combustion are highly dangerous accident types in industrial gas operations, which can cause equipment damage at best and trigger explosions to threaten personnel safety at worst. Statistics show that 80% of flashback incidents are caused by human operational errors, while material defects and improper gas pressure regulation are also major contributing factors.

When flashback combustion occurs, the flame will rush back toward the welding torch accompanied by popping sounds and whistle-like noises. If not handled promptly in the initial stage, the flame will penetrate the welding torch and directly reach the mixing zone of fuel gas and oxygen. Even more dangerous is the flashback caused by gas backflow: high-pressure gas will flow into low-pressure hoses to form a mixed gas. Once ignited by flashback, the flame will spread along the hoses at twice the speed of sound, leaving operators with no time for manual intervention. This can easily lead to hose rupture, pressure regulator ignition, and in extreme cases, explosion of high-pressure gas cylinders or storage tanks.

Fuel gas itself is not a "menace"; it is controllable and safe for professional operators. However, incorrect usage methods will amplify risks. To fundamentally avoid gas flashback hazards, it is crucial to correctly understand safety specifications and equip with dedicated protective devices. Gas safety equipment such as flashback arresters and flame arresters are the "safety guardians" in industrial gas operations.

Flashback arresters and flame arresters are widely used in industrial processes such as oxy-fuel welding and cutting. Their core function is to block the spread of flames or backflow gas to equipment and supply pipelines, building a safety barrier for operators and equipment, and serving as essential devices to ensure the safety of the working environment.

The protection principle of flame arresters is mainly based on two core mechanisms: heat transfer effect and wall effect:

Heat Transfer Effect : A necessary condition for combustion is that the temperature reaches the ignition point of the combustible material. Below the ignition point, combustion will stop. Based on this principle, the spread of flames can be prevented as long as the temperature of the combustion material is reduced below its ignition point. When flames pass through the numerous tiny channels of the flame arrester element, they are divided into many small flames. In designing the internal flame arrester element, the contact area between the small flames and the channel walls is maximized to enhance heat transfer, thereby rapidly lowering the flame temperature below the ignition point and terminating combustion immediately.

Wall Effect:Combustion and explosion are not direct reactions between molecules, but rather involve the excitation of molecules by external energy, which breaks molecular bonds to generate activated molecules. These activated molecules further decompose into short-lived but highly reactive free radicals. When free radicals collide with other molecules, new products are formed, and new free radicals are generated to continue reacting with other molecules. When combustible gas passes through the narrow channels of the flame arrester, the collision probability of free radicals with the channel walls increases significantly, reducing the number of free radicals participating in the reaction. When the channels of the flame arrester are narrow enough, collisions between free radicals and channel walls become dominant. Due to the sharp reduction in the number of free radicals, the reaction cannot proceed, meaning the combustion reaction cannot spread through the flame arrester.

As dedicated safety devices to prevent the spread of flames from flammable and explosive gases and guard against flashback explosions, flame arresters are usually installed on storage tanks and pipelines that transport or discharge flammable and explosive gases. They can not only prevent external flames from rushing into equipment and pipelines but also block the spread of flames between equipment and pipelines, building a solid line of defense for industrial gas operations.