(511d) Aerosol Explosion Studies Using Modified Dust Explosion Apparatus

Aerosol flammability and explosion hazards have attracted renewed attention in recent years due to incidents such as the Buncefield and Flixborough explosions, which involved hydrocarbon aerosol explosions [1]. However, there are surprisingly few investigations examining aerosol explosion hazards and there is no standard procedures guiding researchers. Because of the similarities between dust and aerosol flammability, this study focuses on the modification of a standard dust explosion apparatus at the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center to investigate aerosol explosion hazards. The aerosol explosion hazards depend on the size distribution and concentration of aerosol droplets. Pure hydrocarbon aerosol, such as decane and dodecane, as well as hydrocarbon mixture, such as heat transfer fluid, are investigated by the modified apparatus. The study will examine the aerosol explosion hazards, and how they relate to measured parameters such as LFL, UFL, MIE, P_max and K_g for various aerosol cloud droplet sizes and concentrations.