An update on the European explosion suppression and explosion venting standards

Abstract

This paper sets out the requirements for both explosion suppression and explosion venting according to the draft European Standards that are being prepared under the mandate given to CEN/TC305/WG3, the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association, and supports the essential requirements of EU Directive(s).

Correlations for blast effects from vented dust explosions

“…The monumental work conducted by Bartknecht (1971Bartknecht ( , 1974aBartknecht ( , 1974bBartknecht ( , 1986Bartknecht ( , 1993 led to establish the concepts of the K ST value (deflagration index for dusts) and the cube-root-law, and define the first venting guidelines based on nomographs in 1979. Later, vent area correlations were introduced by Siwek (1994), and then by Moore and Siwek (2002); EN 14491 is based on these correlations.…”

A recent explosion protection system failure

“…Mitigations to consider include explosion relief venting, explosion containment and isolation, and explosion suppression. Explosion suppression controls a deflagration in the early stages before dangerous pressures can develop and damage equipment [1].…”