Texas A&M Opens World's Largest Lab for Controlled Explosions

Texas A&M has launched the Detonation Research Test Facility (DRTF), the world’s largest lab devoted to controlled explosions, featuring a 150-meter methane–air detonation tube with advanced sensors and lasers to study high-speed reactive flows, ignition, and transitions from deflagration to detonation and quenching; the research aims to advance safety, propulsion, and fundamental science across engineering and astrophysics, with Mach-5 detonations achievable in under five seconds and the project rooted in concerns from the mining community about natural gas explosions after a 2021 approval and commissioning.