- Author
-
Hertzberg, M.
|
Sapko, M. J.
|
Edwards, J. C.
|
Courtney, W. J.
- Title
- Dust and Explosions: Experiments, Modeling and the Problem of Scale.
- Coporate
- Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, PA
- Report
-
WSS/CI Paper 84-51,
1984,
3 p.
- Book or Conf
- Combustion Institute/Western States Section. Spring Meeting, 1984. April 2-3, 1984,
Boulder, CO,
1984
- Keywords
-
dust
|
laminar burning velocity
|
quenching diameter
- Abstract
- Considerations of the problems of scale in dust explosions range from the microscopic dimensions of individual fuel particles, which are in the 10-6 meter range, to the macroscopic dimensions of mines, boilers or factories, which are in the 10(2) to 10(3) meter range. The important dimensions that determine the laminar burning velocity are: the dust particle diameter (1 to 100 um), the distance between particles in the dispersed dust cloud (20 to 1000 um), the thickness of the laminar flame front (160 to 1,800 um), and the quenching diameter (1 to 10 cm). Burners or labortory-scale test chambers in which laminar propagation is studied are generally in the 10 to 100 cm range. For turbulent flame propagation, the important dimensions are: the Taylor microscale for the dimensions of turbulent eddies, the thickness of turbulent boundary layers, the height and width of mines, tubes or corridors, the height of obstructions, and the distance between obstructions. The final dimension of interest is the total length of the mine, tube or corridor within which the dust can be dispersed (10 to 10(3) meters). For the case of gas explosions, all the aforementioned scales are relevant except for the two smallest ones.