In this study, the explosion and detonation characteristics of dimethyl ether (DME) were experimentally investigated. A spherical pressure vessel with an internal volume of 180 L was used as the explosion vessel. Therefore, tubes 10 m in length with internal diameters of 25 mm and 50 mm were used as detonation tubes. in addition, we compared the characteristics of DME with those of propane since DME is considered as a substitute fuel for liquid petroleum gas (LPG). At room temperature and atmospheric pressure, the maximum explosive pressure increased tenfold. The explosion index (K-G values), an indicator of the intensity of an explosion, was larger than that of propane. indicating that the explosion was intense. No experimental study has been conducted on the detonation behavior of DME so far, but this research confirmed a transition to detonation. The detonation characteristics were similar to the characteristics of the Chapman-Jouguet detonation, and the concentration range for detonation was from 5.5% to 9.0%. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.