Safety characteristics like the lower explosion limit, the highest concentration for a given substance mixed with air that does not result in a self-propagating flame, or the maximum explosion pressure, the highest pressure that can be reached after ignition for a given combustible substance mixed with air at any concentration, are widely used in the industry to either prevent an explosion or to mitigate the effects of it. Safety characteristics are not physical constants, are determined experimentally and depend on the chosen experimental parameters such as the ignition energy or turbulence.
For the determination of the safety characteristics lower explosion limit (LEL), limiting oxygen concentration (LOC), maximum explosion pressure (pmax) and maximum rate of pressure rise ((dp/dt)max) of gases and vapors the gas is filled via partial pressures into a test vessel and then ignited under quiescent conditions with a weak (2 J - 20 J) ignition source. For dusts, the same safety characteristics are determined under turbulent conditions to elevate
the dust homogeneously and it is ignited with two chemical igniters with an ignition energy of 1000 J each (LEL and LOC) or 5000 J each (pmax and (dp/dt)max). For the determination of safety characteristics of hybrid mixtures (a mixture containing a combustible dust and a flammable gas) there is no existing standard.
In the last 40 years most of the research on their safety characteristics was performed with dust testing equipment that was modified for the addition of flammable gas. Because of the different mixing procedures of gases and dusts with air and because of different ignition energies and sources that are normally used for the standard tests of gases or dusts, the results were hardly reproducible. Statements about the different safety characteristics were contradictory and left the reader or the person responsible for designing safety measures for a process plant or a facility behind with no clear suggestion about the behavior of hybrid
mixtures.
This thesis is aimed on determining the influence of the different ignition sources and energies on the safety characteristics pmax, (dp/dt)max, lower explosion limit, and limiting oxygen concentration of hybrid mixtures.
Several test series were conducted to characterize different standardized ignition sources, that are already in use for the determination of safety characteristics of single-phase substances (gases, liquids, dusts). The burning duration, the igniting volume and the net energy were investigated.
It was shown, that the chemical igniters and the exploding wire are suitable ignition sources for the determination of safety characteristics of hybrid mixtures in general. Their burning duration was long enough to ignite dusts and quick enough, that the decay of the turbulence or sedimentation of the dusts did not occur. Both ignition sources produced comparable results for the determination of pmax, LEL and (dp/dt)max of dusts when they had the same ignition energy. A reduced ignition energy of the exploding wire and the chemical igniters did not affect the pmax and (dp/dt)max. The LEL changed with lower energies. However, for the determination of the LOC of hybrid mixtures the exploding wires with an overall energy of 2 kJ produced the best results.
The influence of the different mixing procedures that have already been used for hybrid mixtures and the requirements for them were also investigated experimentally for the gas concentration and the determined safety characteristics and compared to each other. It was shown, that the partial pressure method works for mixing hybrid mixtures but the pressures should be measured very accurately and the gas concentration should be validated.
Furthermore, the influence of the turbulence that is inevitable when testing dusts, on the safety characteristics of gases was determined. It was found that the chemical igniters and exploding wires produced comparable results for the determination of pmax, LEL and (dp/dt)max under turbulence. For the LOC only exploding wires with two times 1 kJ worked.
Finally, the safety characteristics of hybrid mixtures were determined with different ignition energies and sources and the data were compared. It was discovered, that the pmax of hybrid mixtures was the same value than the higher determined one of the single substances while (dp/dt)max of hybrid mixtures was about 10 % to 25 % higher than the value of the stoichiometric gas mixture under turbulence. The point was found at the stoichiometric gas concentration with very little amounts of dust.
To prove the key findings of this work and for the establishment of a standardized procedure for the determination of safety characteristics of hybrid mixtures, an international round robin test was conducted with eleven participating facilities in seven countries. The results were comparable within a reasonable range and are presented in this dissertation in an extra chapter.
Based upon the observations in this work a reliable solution for a new standardizable ignition source to determine the safety characteristics of hybrid dust-gas-mixtures is proposed.
During manufacturing and production processes of pyrotechnic compositions, semi-finished devices and regular pyrotechnic articles an inadvertent reaction or even explosion cannot be fully excluded. The optimization of the design of the involved single work processes can only reduce the risk of such a scenario. For doing so, one must consider the respective properties regarding thermal, mechanical, chemical and electrostatic sensitivities of the compositions being processed. One major key parameter in reducing the risks of such an event is to minimize the consequences, if the likelihood of this event cannot be further reduced.
Minimizing the consequences in cases of unintended explosions during production processes comprises of construction measures regarding buildings (different walls, orientation etc.), increasing safety distances to other buildings, and lowering the maximum net explosive masses and the number of people per room or production process.
Important criteria for defining and setting protection measures are the so-called ‘hazard groups’ (in German ‘Gefahrgruppen’), net explosive masses and the main impacts or hazards (such as blast pressure, heat/radiation and debris).
This paper aims at presenting some approaches used in Germany to minimize the impacts of possible reactions or inadvertent explosions during production processes of pyrotechnic compositions and articles in work spaces. This includes also the determination of safety distances and discussions on reducing thermal impacts.
As consequence for increasing threats by IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) on vehicles, the blast resistance of the welded frames and bodies becomes increasingly important. Considering vehicle welds subjected to blasting, the real configurations of the joints in the structure and the position of the blast loads have to be considered. The present contribution thus focuses on a weld joint at the explosion endangered wheel well of a tactical truck. The high-strength steel welds were subsequently impacted by explosion loads within the upper range from those experienced in practical military operation to cause not only deformation, but also to investigate the ultimate fracture behaviour of the high-strength weld. The interaction between cooling time t8/5 and displacement, crack path as well as fracture surface was analysed. The analyses of the fracture surfaces revealed ductile overload failure and also the size of the dimples was influenced by the cooling time t8/5. As a prominent feature, these investigations showed that the crack path of such high-strength steel welds under blasting is less influenced by the final hardness level in the respective weld microstructures but much more affected by the hardness gradient at the fusion line and inside the Heat Affected Zone (HAZ).
The present issue reports on a specific aspect of safety engineering of the heterogeneously catalysed oxidation of ethene in a continuous-flow microreactor. Conversion of ethene and the corresponding surface temperature of the catalyst were monitored for different reactor temperatures and total flow rates with a stoichiometric ethene/oxygen mixture for total oxidation. Safe operation of the highly exothermic oxidation was possible, but not in the whole parameter range. At high reactor temperatures and flow rates, ignition of an explosion inside the microreactor caused by a hot spot on the surface of the catalyst was observed for the first time.
Es wurde ein Verfahren zur Berechnung von Explosionsgrenzen ethylenoxidhaltiger Gasphasen in Sterilisatoren entwickelt. Mit Hilfe der Software GasEq® und des neu entwickelten Makros SterEx für MS-Excel® lassen sich die Explosionsgrenzen für Gemische aus Ethylenoxid, Luft und Inertgasen bei Temperaturen zwischen 20°C und 100°C sowie 0,4 bar und 1,0 bar berechnen. Somit ist es schnell möglich, sichere Betriebsbedingungen für Sterilisationsprozesse mit Ethylenoxid festzulegen. Das halbempirische Modell basiert auf der Annahme konstanter Flammentemperaturprofile an den Explosionsgrenzen in Abhängigkeit der EO-Konzentration für verschiedene Gemische. Durch systematische Zündversuche wurden Explosionsgrenzen für Gemische aus Ethylenoxid, Stickstoff, Kohlenstoffdioxid, Wasserdampf und Luft zur Bestimmung von Modellparametern und zur Validierung des Verfahrens bestimmt. Um die Prozessbedingungen in Sterilisatoren möglichst genau zu simulieren, wurden die Versuche in einem geschlossenen Autoklav in Anlehnung an DIN EN 1839-B durchgeführt. Berechnungen der Explosionsgrenzen von Prozessgasgemischen mit SterEx ergeben eine gute Übereinstimmung mit experimentell ermittelten Werten.
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A calculation method for flammability limits of gas phases with ethylene oxide in sterilisers was developed. Using the Software GasEq® and the newly developed Makro SterEx for MS-Excel®, flammability limits of mixtures with ethylene oxide, air and inert gases at temperatures between 20°C and 100°C and pressures between 0.4 bar and 1.0 bar can be calculated. This method can be used to easily determine safe operating conditions. The used semi-empirical model is based upon the assumption of constant flame temperature profiles at the flammability limits subject to the EO-concentration for different mixtures. To collect model parameters and to validate the model, several experiments with mixtures of ethylene oxide, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapour and air were carried out to determine flammability limits. To simulate the structural conditions of sterilisers, the experiments were conducted in accordance to DIN EN 1839-B in a closed autoclave with temperatures and pressures relevant for sterilisation processes. The calculation of flammability limits of process gas mixtures with SterEx provides good agreement with flammability limits that were determined in experiments.