Flammability of Metals and Other Elemental Dust Clouds

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cashdollar, Kenneth L. ; Cashdollar, Kenneth L.
• Description:
  This paper reports results from a U.S. Bureau of Mines study of the flammability of various metals and other elemental dusts dispersed in air. The data are useful for evaluating the explosion hazards in the minerals and metals processing industries. The dusts studied included boron, carbon, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, sulfur, titanium, chromium, iron, nickel, copper, zinc, niobium, molybdenum, tin, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten, and lead. The dusts were chosen to cover a wide range of physical properties - from the more volatile materials such as magnesium, sulfur, and zinc to the highly refractory materials such as carbon, niobium, molybdenum, tantalum, and tungsten. These flammability studies were conducted in the Bureau of Mines 20-L explosibility test chamber, using strong pyrotechnic ignitors. The parameters measured included the minimum explosible concentrations, maximum explosion pressures, and maximum rates of pressure rise. All of the elemental dusts ignited and burned as air-dispersed dust clouds except the nickel, copper, molybdenum, and lead. In general, the dusts with the highest explosion pressures and rates of pressure rise were also those with the highest calculated, adiabatic flame temperatures and/or the ones that vaporized most easily, but this was not true in all cases. The effect of particle size on flammability was studied for the aluminum and iron dusts. The minimum explosible concentrations were relatively independent of particle size below 30microm, but the highest explosion pressures and rates of pressure rise were found at the finest sizes tested. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aluminum Compounds Dust Explosions Ferrous Compounds Fires Metals Metals, Heavy Occupational Health Safety Tin Compounds
• Keywords:
  Aluminum-compounds Explosion-prevention Explosive-atmospheres Explosive-dusts Fire-hazards Fire-prevention Heavy-metals Iron-compounds Metal-compounds Metal-dusts Metallic-compounds Metallic-dusts Metallic-minerals Molybdenum-compounds Tin-compounds Tungsten-compounds

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• Series:
  Mining Publications   ; Mining Publications  
• ISSN:
  1066-8527
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRC - Pittsburgh Research Center ; PRC - Pittsburgh Research Center
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  139-145
• Volume:
  13
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:10005466
• Citation:
  Process Saf Prog 1994 Jul; 13(3):139-145
• Contact Point Address:
  Kenneth L. Cashdollar, Pittsburgh Research Center, Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, P.O. Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA 15236
• CAS Registry Number:
  Aluminum (CAS RN 7429-90-5) ; Carbon (CAS RN 7440-44-0) ; Chromium (CAS RN 7440-47-3) ; Iron (CAS RN 7439-89-6) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Magnesium (CAS RN 7439-95-4) ; Nickel (CAS RN 7440-02-0) ; Sulfur (CAS RN 7704-34-9) ; Tin (CAS RN 7440-31-5) ; Titanium (CAS RN 7440-32-6) ; Tungsten (CAS RN 7440-33-7) ; Zinc (CAS RN 7440-66-6) ; Aluminum (CAS RN 7429-90-5) ; Carbon (CAS RN 7440-44-0) ; Chromium (CAS RN 7440-47-3) ; Iron (CAS RN 7439-89-6) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Magnesium (CAS RN 7439-95-4) ; Nickel (CAS RN 7440-02-0) ; Sulfur (CAS RN 7704-34-9) ; Tin (CAS RN 7440-31-5) ; Titanium (CAS RN 7440-32-6) ; Tungsten (CAS RN 7440-33-7) ; Zinc (CAS RN 7440-66-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Process Safety Progress
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:edb47785f86d5711123a46ec0a78806adf900378fd23ed06b5fdb5389dca5676a775fb2dc0bf96574851ad25836155c6f23b84107465e73052de9cdb185dd597
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/219679/cdc_219679_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 726.71 KB ]