Explosion Temperatures and Pressures of Metals and Other Elemental Dust Clouds

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cashdollar, Kenneth L. ; Zlochower, Isaac A.
• Description:
  The Pittsburgh Research Laboratory of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted a study of the explosibility of various metals and other elemental dusts, with a focus on the experimental explosion temperatures. The data are useful for understanding the basics of dust cloud combustion, as well as for evaluating 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, aluminum, sulfur, and zinc to the highly "refractory" elements such as carbon, niobium, molybdenum, tantalum, and tungsten. These flammability studies were conducted in a 20-L chamber, using strong pyrotechnic ignitors. A unique multiwavelength infrared pyrometer was used to measure the temperatures. For the elemental dusts studied, all ignited and burned as air-dispersed dust clouds except for nickel, copper, molybdenum, and lead. The measured maximum explosion temperatures ranged from approximately 1550 K for tin and tungsten powders to approximately 2800 K for aluminum, magnesium, and titanium powders. The measured temperatures are compared to the calculated, adiabatic flame temperatures. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dust Explosions Metals Mining Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety
• Keywords:
  Analytical-processes Dust-particles Explosion-prevention Explosive-dusts Metal-dusts Metal-mining Metallic-dusts Mining-industry Particulate-dust Particulates
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  0950-4230
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRL - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  337-348
• Volume:
  20
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032563
• Citation:
  J Loss Prev Process Ind 2007 Jul/Nov; 20(4-6):337-348
• Contact Point Address:
  Kenneth L. Cashdollar, NIOSH, Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 18070, Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236
• Email:
  KCashdollar@cdc.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Aluminum (CAS RN 7429-90-5) ; Boron (CAS RN 7440-42-8) ; Carbon (CAS RN 7440-44-0) ; Chromium (CAS RN 7440-47-3) ; Copper (CAS RN 7440-50-8) ; Hafnium (CAS RN 7440-58-6) ; Iron (CAS RN 7439-89-6) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Magnesium (CAS RN 7439-95-4) ; Molybdenum (CAS RN 7439-98-7) ; Nickel (CAS RN 7440-02-0) ; Niobium (CAS RN 7440-03-1) ; Silicon (CAS RN 7440-21-3) ; Sulfur (CAS RN 7704-34-9) ; Tantalum (CAS RN 7440-25-7) ; 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:
  2007
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bc4fac7ea1cb4fe360d70e343882f7c527d117300572855f76ff9393be34c672a66f79fafaf24c26379b9eb81d0a3763ecf123805ddf65c82e3a6ccf39c7a5d9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/226812/cdc_226812_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 809.58 KB ]