Dust explosions in interconnected vented vessels

An investigation of the consequences of primary dust explosions in interconnected vessels

“…However, as remarked by [2] most of the experimental results have been limited to relatively simple cases, like isolated vessels. In industry, as mentioned above, vessels are often linked by networks of pipes and the behaviour of explosions in such systems is practically unpredictable.…”

“…As mentioned by [2], a flow in the dust-air mixture generates concentration gradients, giving rise to rich and lean zones. The Nomenclature c s heat capacity of the solid phase C D drag force coefficient d diameter of a particle E total internal energy of the gas phase f interphase force f drag drag forcē F ,Ḡ the vector of convective terms F V ,Ḡ V the vector of diffusive terms I moment of inertia k energy of turbulent pulsations l turbulent length scale m particle mass M torque acting on a particle Nu Nusselt number p pressure P t probability that a particle encc Q interphase heat flux Re ω rotational Reynolds number S the vector of source terms T temperature of a phase u velocity of a phase u rms root mean square of turbulent velocity fluctuations U the vector of conserved variables…”

“…In many circumstances the explosion may be more severe than if the dust were ignited in an isolated vessel: when the flame passes through the pipe that connects the units, turbulence is generated, which leads to higher combustion rates. For longer pipes, the deflagration can be even transited to detonation [2,3].…”

“…A probable reason is the difficulty and high costs of such experiments. Some are: [2,[4][5][6][7][8].…”

Experimental investigation of external explosion in the venting process

“…The second impulse pressure peak was generated by DDT of combustible mixture outside the vessel. Holbrow et al(1996)'s study on the behavior of dust explosions in linked vented vessel systems revealed that the passage of flame from the primary ignition vessel could result in a secondary explosion producing a much higher pressure than expected from a vented single vessel. They suggested that the effects of secondary explosion were dependent on some factors such as the vent area, the pipe diameter, and so on.…”