- Author
-
Hertzberg, M.
|
Conti, R. S.
|
Cashdollar, K. L.
- Title
- Electrical Ignition Energies and Thermal Autoignition Temperatures for Evaluating Explosion Hazards of Dusts.
- Coporate
- Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, PA
- Report
-
RI 8988,
1985,
41 p.
- Keywords
-
mine fires
|
explosion hazards
- Abstract
- The Bureau of Mines measured the energy requirements for the spark ignition in air of Pittsburgh seam bituminous coal dust, lycopodium spores, and polyethylene powder with a 1.2-L furnace and 8-L and 20-L chambers. Thermal autoignition temperatures of the same dusts were measured in the 1.2-L furnace. Electrical ignition requirements are given in terms of both effective spark gap energies, and stored circuit energies, 1/2 CE2. Due to experimental complexities, the minimum ignition energies for dusts may not reflect intrinsic flammability behavior. However, some valuable information may be obtained from the relative ignition energies of various dusts at ambient and elevated temperatures. In addition, the concept of minimum electrical ignition energies for homogeneous gas mixtures is reevaluated theoretically.