Dust explosions in vented silos: Simulations and comparisons with current standards

  1. Tascón, A. 1
  2. Ruiz, Ángel. 1
  3. Aguado, P.J. 1
  1. 1 Universidad de León
    info

    Universidad de León

    León, España

    ROR https://ror.org/02tzt0b78

Revue:
Powder Technology

ISSN: 0032-5910

Année de publication: 2011

Volumen: 208

Número: 3

Pages: 717-724

Type: Article

DOI: 10.1016/J.POWTEC.2011.01.015 SCOPUS: 2-s2.0-79952739404 WoS: WOS:000289602100020 GOOGLE SCHOLAR

D'autres publications dans: Powder Technology

Objectifs de Développement Durable

Résumé

Dust explosions represent a serious hazard to personnel and equipment in industries and silo facilities that handle combustible materials. Venting devices are the most common protective systems employed in silos, although their use may pose problems in large and low-strength silos. The main aim of the present work was to simulate dust explosions in silos using a commercial CFD program, the DESC code, to determine the pressures developed in vented explosions with vent areas of different sizes. Dust cloud characteristics were taken from studies carried out by the FSA (Research Centre for Applied System Safety and Industrial Medicine, Germany) in a 12m3 silo with a mechanical feeding system. The pressures and associated vent areas in these simulations were compared to those contemplated in two venting standards. The simulated explosion pressures showed the expected trends for the associated vent areas and agreed reasonably well with the values contemplated in NFPA 68 (2007) [5]. However, when the reduced explosion overpressure was low, the vent area contemplated in EN 14491 (2006) [4] was much larger than in the present simulations. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.