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- 2013 (18) (entfernen)
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- Dust explosion (3)
- Dustiness (2)
- Kenngrößen (2)
- Nanopowder (2)
- Nichtatmosphärische Bedingungen (2)
- Venting (2)
- Zündkriterium (2)
- Abbrandfaktor m (1)
- Adiabatic test (1)
- Brandbeschleuniger (1)
This paper describes a modified experimental setup for the test apparatus 20-L-Sphere (also known as 20-L Siwek Chamber), that enables the test samples to be kept under inert atmospheric conditions nearly until ignition. This setup was designed to allow the determination of safety characteristics of nano powders under most critical circumstances (e.g. minimisation of the influence of oxidation before the test itself). The aim of this modification was to determine, whether or not the current setup and procedures underestimate the explosion violence and ignitability of nano powders. For this purpose, two different methods, the so called inerting method and the modified method (using a special nozzle called mushroom nozzle) are used. Both methods are described in the paper. The work includes experimental results of micrometer dusts to validate the modified method. Moreover first results of nanometer iron and aluminium dusts are presented, which were kept at inert conditions until shortly before the ignition. The tested nano iron was found to react pyrophoric, as soon as it gets in contact with air, while the tested nano aluminium did not generally show such behaviour. Tests with nano aluminium using the inerting method revealed a higher pressure rise in comparison to the standard test procedure. This could suggest a different extent of passivation. To investigate this effect more closely, further testes with more nano powders are required.
Modified setup of 20-L-sphere for the determination of safety characteristics of nano powders
(2013)
This paper describes a modified experimental setup for the test apparatus 20-L-Sphere (also known as 20-L Siwek Chamber), that enables the test samples to be kept under inert atmospheric conditions nearly until ignition. This setup was designed to allow the determination of safety characteristics of nanopowders under most critical circumstances (e.g. minimisation of the influence of oxidation before the test itself). The aim of this modification was to determine, whether or not the current setup and procedures underestimate the explosion violence and ignitability of nanopowders. The work includes experimental results of micrometer dusts to validate the modified setup. Moreover first results of nanometer iron and Aluminium dusts are presented, which were kept at inert conditions until shortly before the ignition. The tested nano iron was found to react pyrophoric, as soon as it gets in contact with air, while the tested nano Aluminium did not generally show such behaviour.
In practice, occurring explosive dust/air mixtures are usually not homogeneous and in many cases do not spread over the whole enclosure. For the safety measure explosion venting, a smaller venting area might be sufficient as calculated according to venting standards (EN 14491 'Dust Explosion Venting Protective Systems'). The tendency of bulk materials to form dust clouds is not taken into account so far. To optimize the design of explosion protection measures, a new safety characteristic the so-called 'dustiness' (see VDI 2263 part 9 'Determination of Dustiness of Bulk Materials'.) could be useful. Dustiness means the tendency of dust to form dust clouds. There are six dustiness groups (DG) from one to six (one means little tendency to stay airborne, six the opposite). The paper describes first results on the reasons for different dustiness and on dust explosion venting for several dusts of different dustiness. A 75 L vertical tube apparatus for vented dust explosion experiments was created. Pressure, pressure rises and flame speeds were measured to evaluate the course of the dust explosions. In addition the paper includes CFD simulations (ANSYS CFX) about the possibilities to model the dust/air mixtures with the Euler/Lagrange approach. In order to simulate the settling of dust clouds more realistic the particle surface area was adjusted and the particle size distribution was taken into account. Results were compared to experimentally determined terminal velocities.
Experimentelle Untersuchungen zum Einfluss von Brandbeschleuniger auf den Verlauf von Raumbränden
(2013)
Es werden die Untersuchungsergebnisse für ein geeignetes Zündkriterium zur Bestimmung von Explosionsgrenzen bei nichtatmosphärischen Bedingungen vorgestellt. Dazu wurden für Anfangsdrücke bis 20 bar Zündversuche an den Explosionsgrenzen von CHL/Luft-, CaHg/Luft-, H2/Luft- und NHs/Luft-Gemischen in einem Autoklav mit Sichtscheibe durchgeführt. In der Auswertung wurden visuelle Zündkriterien und ein Druckschwellenkriterium miteinander verglichen. Weiterhin wurden Untersuchungen zum erforderlichen Mindesvolumen des Explosionsgefäßes in Abhängigkeit des Anfangsdrucks durchgeführt. Dazu wurden jeweils Zündversuche mit demselben Gemisch aus CH4 und Luft bei Anfangsdrücken bis 50 bar in Volumina zwischen 0,2 dm3 und 6,0 dm3 durchgeführt.
Observed autoignition events and extinguishing the resulting smouldering fires in an underground storage system of a coal-fired power plant have provided insight into the array of contributing variables, and some experience on quantifying the risk with alternative scenarios of event initiation, progress and potential mitigation. Although the first attempts to quantify the risk suggest high sensitivity to the sequence of action taken after fire alarm, and no similar storage sites really exist, some recommended preventive, corrective and other mitigating activities can be at least partly defined and improved by using the cumulative experience and parallel efforts in other closed or underground storage sites. However, there are also so-called black (or at least grey) swans: unexpected events for which the facility may be poorly prepared for. In the case of the underground storage silos, such an event was experienced when incoming cold coal during a harsh winter season froze the sewer system that normally protects the stored coal from seepage water. With blocked normal bypass, the seepage water found its way to the coal silos and created large clumps of icy coal that blocked the coal conveyors. Although freezing weather is not unusual at high-latitude power plants, the common methods to combat freezing of coal are mainly useful for open storage sites and above-ground transport. Options for mitigation are discussed, as well as the event chain leading to an event that had never previously occurred. The case is discussed from the point of view of options to prepare for rare or unforeseen events.
A controlled-atmosphere cone calorimeter that is built by modifying the Standard apparatus with the addition of a controlled-atmosphere chamber offers a time- and cost-saving approach for reaction-to-fire testing in vitiation- and ventilation-controlled atmospheres. Due to the design of the added enclosure no mechanical changes on cone calorimeter’s Standard ductwork are required. This offers some advantages but also important limitations. The design has an open connection between the outlet of the added enclosure and the cone calorimeter’s exhaust hood. Therefore, sufficient ambient air from the laboratory surroundings is drawn into the System to introduce effects which have the potential to affect test results significantly.
A procedure which is is suitable to consider physical effects of the ambient air on the calculation of the heat release rate is presented as well as initial results of an application towards toxic potency assessment. Signs for Chemical effects of the ambient air such as post reactions are shown but subject of an ongoing work.
A new safety characteristic the 'dustiness' according to VDI 2263 part 9 (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure, 2008) is investigated. Dustiness means the tendency of a dust to form clouds. The paper deals with the influence of the dustiness on vented dust explosions. In order to look into the effects of the dustiness on dust cloud formation and explosion properties experiments and simulations in a vertical dust dispersion glass tube apparatus were carried out.
Preliminary explosion experiments showed that the dustiness has an influence on the reduced explosion pressure in a vented 75 L test apparatus. Dusts with comparable pmax and KSt values and different dustiness were tested. Dusts with higher dustiness produced higher overpressures, despite comparable safety characteristics. In order to verify the results for applications in the process industries further tests with different settings are planned as well as industrial scale experiments. Characteristics of the dust such as particle size, density, specific surface area and particle shape, which influence the dispersibility, have been determined experimentally.
The Euler/Lagrange and the Euler/Euler approaches are compared for simulating an exemplary dust/air mixture. Especially sedimentation and the ability of the approaches to simulate the tendency of dust to stay airborne were investigated. The Euler/Lagrange approach is better suited for simulating local dust concentrations, particle size distributions and particle forces. It could be used to point out regions of high dust concentrations in a vessel. With the Euler/Euler method it is possible to achieve fast solutions for one specified diameter, but the simulated dust/air mixtures are always more homogenous than in reality. ANSYS CFX version 13 was used in all simulations.
Determination of measurement uncertainties in adiabatic hot-storage experiments for reactive dusts
(2013)
The formal kinetics of self-ignition of solid bulk materials theoretically can be derived from just one single adiabatic hot-storage test. The question arises how uncertainties in the measurements can be quantified and how these uncertainties affect the results of the subsequent predictions. Adiabatic and isoperibolic hot-storage basket tests were performed for samples of lignite coal, black coal, cork dust, a polymer dust, and wax-coated silicid acid. In the adiabatic experiments, the starting temperature and the temperature control of the oven were varied systematically to study the uncertainty margin of adiabatic tests. The apparent activation energy and the pre-exponential factor of the lumped reaction were derived from the adiabatic tests including average values and standard deviations and compared to isoperibolic experiments performed according to the European standard EN 15188. It could be shown that with a precise temperature control of the adiabatic oven combined with an automated computation of the maximum rate of temperature rise the uncertainty of the apparent activation energy can be limited to less than 10%.
The Fractional Effective Dose model was used to predict the fire smoke toxicity numerically. In this context fire tests were carried out for three different building materials: polyurethane, flame retardant polyurethane and polyvinyl chloride. The fire tests were performed for flaming and smoldering combustion. The aim of the fire tests was to determine the light extinction, the smoke density and the combustion products at varying oxygen concentrations, different temperatures and different irradiance levels. The fire tests were performed in the German DIN-tube and also in the Cone Calorimeter. Stoichiometric coefficients at varying oxygen concentrations and temperatures were determined from measurements. With these stoichiometric coefficients reaction equations were defined and implemented in the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) program, ANSYS CFX. The implemented reaction equations were used to account for different ventilation and temperature conditions in the simulation. The fire and smoke propagation was calculated numerically with CFD in the room corner test geometry. Equations to account for toxicity and light extinction were also implemented and were used to analyse the toxicity and the optical properties of fire smoke with CFD.