(54bw) Influence of Intertization on the Determination of the Minimum Ignition Energy of Combustible Dusts
AIChE Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety
2018
2018 Spring Meeting and 14th Global Congress on Process Safety
Global Congress on Process Safety
GCPS Poster Session
Monday, April 23, 2018 - 5:00pm to 7:00pm
This research work aims to contribute to the improvement of safety conditions against flammability risks of solids in processing industries.
Flammability of dusts from several materials, such as straw, wood chips, almond shell, olive pit, coal, thermally dried sewage sludge, vine, flour, starch, pineapple, coconut shell, etc. has been characterized. This characterization has been carried out through the determination of the Minimum Ignition Energy (MIE) of the samples, obtaining information about the ease of ignition of the dust cloud. Tests were firstly carried out under ambient conditions (air: 21 % v/v O2 – 79 % v/v N2), the atmosphere was then partially inerted reducing the oxygen content to 15% v/v and reaching 9% v/v for some sample. A specific gas mixer has been developed to obtain the desired oxygen and nitrogen ratios.
Only a few samples had a MIE value in air below 1000 mJ (samples with lower moisture content). However, these samples presented a MIE value at 9% v/v O2 above 1000 mJ. The sulphur sample showed a high flammability, characterized by a MIE value less than 1 mJ when ignited in these tests for any oxygen concentration from pure air to 15% O2, showing a sharp decrease in its flammability when the oxygen content dropped by 15%.
Partial inerting of the air by reducing the oxygen content causes an increase in the value of the MIE and results in the ignition being more difficult to achieve since more energy is required in the spark.
The results of this research contribute to show the importance of determining some flammability characteristics of combustible dusts in order to improve safety in industrial processes.
Flammability of dusts from several materials, such as straw, wood chips, almond shell, olive pit, coal, thermally dried sewage sludge, vine, flour, starch, pineapple, coconut shell, etc. has been characterized. This characterization has been carried out through the determination of the Minimum Ignition Energy (MIE) of the samples, obtaining information about the ease of ignition of the dust cloud. Tests were firstly carried out under ambient conditions (air: 21 % v/v O2 – 79 % v/v N2), the atmosphere was then partially inerted reducing the oxygen content to 15% v/v and reaching 9% v/v for some sample. A specific gas mixer has been developed to obtain the desired oxygen and nitrogen ratios.
Only a few samples had a MIE value in air below 1000 mJ (samples with lower moisture content). However, these samples presented a MIE value at 9% v/v O2 above 1000 mJ. The sulphur sample showed a high flammability, characterized by a MIE value less than 1 mJ when ignited in these tests for any oxygen concentration from pure air to 15% O2, showing a sharp decrease in its flammability when the oxygen content dropped by 15%.
Partial inerting of the air by reducing the oxygen content causes an increase in the value of the MIE and results in the ignition being more difficult to achieve since more energy is required in the spark.
The results of this research contribute to show the importance of determining some flammability characteristics of combustible dusts in order to improve safety in industrial processes.
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