A model for coal dust duct explosions

✍ Scribed by J.H. Pickles

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1982
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 802 KB
• Volume: 44
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0010-2180
• DOI: 10.1016/0010-2180(82)90070-0

✦ Synopsis

A theoretical discussion is given of the propagation of a dust explosion in a linear duct or pipeline. The particular aim is to investigate the experimental observation that propagating explosions are much harder to initiate in small laboratory scale ducts than in, say, coal mine galleries. A model is proposed in which a turbulent mixing phenomenon first identified by G. I. Taylor gives, for large ducts, very high flame velocities, which in turn lead to large fluid velocities and further increases in flame velocity. In small ducts, the time scale of the turbulent mixing is less than the time needed for the burning of individual coal particles. The particle burning time becomes an additional constraint on the rate of flame propagation and the development of explosions is inhibited.