Dust cloud evolution and flame propagation of organic dust deflagration under low wall influence

The present study discusses experiments on organic dust explosions in a setup with low wall influence. The proposed apparatus decouples the dust dispersion and the deflagration event in two separate compartments. The use of a continuous-wave laser to illuminate the centre plane of the observation chamber allows capturing both, the dust cloud and the flame during the same experiment and eliminates typical problems caused by the limited dynamic range of high-speed cameras. A k-means clustering method is used for image segmentation to obtain the spatial extent and the propagation velocities of the unreacted particle cloud and the flame zone. Spatially resolved velocities are calculated by the additional use of an optical flow method. The main goal of the presented setup and image processing method is to provide high quality validation data for the development of numerical models on dust deflagration.     

The simulation of long-range transport of ¹³⁷Cs from East Asia to Japan in 2002 and 2006

To evaluate the quantities of ¹³⁷Cs from past nuclear tests being transported to and deposited in Japan by naturally-occurring phenomena, the authors developed long-range transport models for ¹³⁷Cs considering Asian dust. The simulation using these models backed the observed recent increase of ¹³⁷Cs deposition along the coast of the Sea of Japan in early spring. For the sake of public safety, it is vital to ascertain whether an increase of radioactive deposition is caused by natural phenomena or a nuclear accident. The observations in recent years have suggested that dust and soil containing ¹³⁷Cs is transported from the regions around Inner Mongolia to Japan by the wind. In this paper, using observation data from the early spring of 2002 and 2006, the authors have found good agreement between the simulations and the measurements. The simulations reproduced the entrainment of ¹³⁷Cs and subsequent transport to Japan caused by strong winds associated with low pressure areas around the Inner Mongolian grasslands. The most likely cause of high-level ¹³⁷Cs deposition over northern Japan during March 2002 was ¹³⁷Cs associated with particles transported at low-altitude (1 km) and subjected to precipitation on the 22nd to 24th.     

A numerical model for the prediction of the minimum ignition temperature of dust clouds

This paper presents a numerical model for the prediction of the minimum ignition temperature (MIT) of dust clouds. First, a physical model is developed for the dust cloud ignition in the Godbert-Greenwald furnace. A numerical approach is then applied for the MIT prediction based on the physical model. The model considers heat transfer between the air and dust particles, the dust particle reaction kinetics, and the residence times of dust clouds in the furnace. In general, for the 13 dusts studied, the calculated MIT data are in agreement with the experimental values. There is also great accordance between the experimental and numerical MIT variation trends against particle size. Two different ignition modes are discovered. The first one consists in ignition near the furnace wall for bigger particles characterized by rather short residence times. In the second mode, the ignition starts from the center of the furnace by self-heating of the dust cloud for smaller particles with longer residence times. For magnesium, as dust concentration increases, the lowest ignition temperature of the dust cloud IT(conc) decreases first, then transits to increase at a certain point. The transition happens at different dust concentrations for different particle sizes. Moreover, the MIT of the magnesium dust cloud generally increases as particle size increases, but the increasing trend stagnates within a certain medium particle size range.     

高空防坠落装置的使用现状及改进措施

为使高空防坠落装置技术更成熟、应用更普及,笔者对高空防坠落装置的类型特点、装置存在的问题进行分析,提出改进措施。结果表明:导向型防坠落装置存在使用环境受限,导轨维护困难,无法“高挂低用”等问题;速差式防坠落装置存在易发生“钟摆效应”,收绳速度不可控等问题。提出导向型防坠落装置要采取材料优化、智能化、改变制动方式等改进措施;速差式防坠落装置要采取重新设计防坠落器结构、加入速度控制模块、加入角度模块等改进措施。