Numerical study of dust lifting using the Eulerian–Eulerian approach

The present paper shows a numerical investigation of dust lifting behind a moving pressure wave. The dispersion of combustible dust has previously been discovered to be a precursor to a potential dust explosion. Consequently, a growing interest on the subject has been observed in recent years. Numerous studies have been performed on dust lifting, however, very few investigations have focused on dust layers with high volume fractions. Therefore, the aim of this investigation was to provide additional data. The simulations were carried out in a three-dimensional duct with a dust layer dispersed along the lower wall. The Eulerian–Eulerian approach was selected as the modelling technique. At first, four simulations varying the initial pressure and volume fraction of the dust were performed. The former parameter was varied between 4 and 8 bar, while the latter varied between 0.4 and 0.6. The combination of high initial pressure and high volume fraction resulted in the greatest dispersion of dust. Subsequently, two different drag force models were compared: the Schiller–Naumann, and the Gidaspow. It was discovered through this research that the choice of model caused significantly different results. The former model was found to underestimate the drag in the diluted parts of the layer. Consequently, this led to a distinctly lower lifting of the dust than in the latter model. Finally, a validation of a particle–particle interaction model was performed. It was observed that in the case where the model was disabled, an unrealistically high maximum volume fraction of the dust layer occurred. Nevertheless, the model did not seem to improve the dispersion results, which indicates that the dust lifting in this research was solely due to fluid–particle interactions.     

Modelling of dust lifting process behind propagating shock wave

Dust dispersion from a layer is a complicated problem, which has not been completely solved yet, especially if an Eulerian–Eulerian approach has to be used to model the two-phase dusty flow. In previous investigation, a phenomenological model of the dust dispersion process from a layer was developed, but the evaluation of the model revealed some weaknesses. In the current paper, the model of the dust dispersion process was presented and three improvements of the model were studied: Saffman force, Magnus force and particles collisions. The implementation of Magnus and Saffman forces into the code did not improve the numerical results and it was shown that it had very little influence on the dust lifting process, in case the phenomenological model of the layer is used. Some explanations were proposed in the paper. Besides, an empirical model of particles collisions was also added to the code and its influence on the results was studied. It was shown that the particles collisions model improved the obtained results, but further modifications are to be studied in the future.     

Experimental and numerical investigation of constant volume dust and gas explosions in a 3.6-m flame acceleration tube

This paper describes an experimental investigation of turbulent flame propagation in propane-air mixtures, and in mechanical suspensions of maize starch dispersed in air, in a closed vessel of length 3.6 m and internal cross-section 0.27 m × 0.27 m. The primary motivation for the work is to gain improved understanding of turbulent flame propagation in dust clouds, with a view to develop improved models and methods for assessing explosion risks in the process and mining industries. The study includes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with FLACS and DESC, for gas and dust explosions respectively. For initially quiescent propane-air mixtures, FLACS over-predicts the rate of combustion for fuel-lean mixtures, and under-predicts for fuel-rich mixtures. The simulations tend to be in better agreement with the experimental results for initially turbulent gaseous mixtures. The experimental results for maize starch vary significantly between repeated tests, but the subset of tests that yields the highest explosion pressures are in reasonable agreement with CFD simulations with DESC.     

Effects of multiple annular obstacles on flame propagation of local corn starch dust in a vertical pipe

With high-speed camera technology, the propagation behavior of explosion flame for the local dust cloud of corn starch in a semi-open vertical pipe under the action of the annular obstacle was studied experimentally, and the blockage rate and the annular obstacle numbers as well as impact of dust cloud concentration on the flame propagation were investigated. The researches showed that both the blockage rate and the annular obstacle numbers have significant effects on the flame speed and propagation process for the dust cloud explosion of corn starch. The increase of the blockage rate of such annular obstacles will cause that the combustion of dust cloud with high concentration is mainly concentrated in the lower part of the pipe. The increase of the annular obstacle numbers will lead to the acceleration of combustion of the dust cloud. With the increase of the blockage rate and the annular obstacle numbers, the maximum flame speed shows a trend of the first increasing and then decreasing, and the phenomenon of accelerated propagation of the flame becomes more and more obvious, however, the distance of continuous acceleration for the flame is gradually decreased and the maximum flame speed is farther from the outlet of the pipe. Under the action of such annular obstacles, the concentration of dust cloud has a significant effect on the flame speed and shape of the dust cloud of the corn starch. The increase of the concentration of the dust cloud will decrease the acceleration effect of such annular obstacles to result in maximum flame speed showing a trend of the first increasing and then decreasing. However, the acceleration distance of the flame is longer, and the maximum flame speed is closer to the outlet of the pipe. The increasing concentration will make the flame speed develop more slowly, the flame color will be darker, and the flame segmentation phenomenon will be more obvious.     

Numerical study on dust movement and dust distribution for hybrid ventilation system in a laneway of coal mine

Coal dust disaster is the most serious problem in a laneway of coal mine. Dust movement regularity for comprehensive mechanized heading face is the key scientific issues for the principle and technology of dust prevention. The special topic on systematic study of the variation regularity of dust movement and dust distribution is presented with hybrid ventilation for the comprehensive mechanized heading face: Euler–Euler method was firstly established on the numerical platform for gas–solid two phase flow in a laneway. And the forces and the dynamic model of dust particles were performed in three-dimensional flow field. Then based on the visible simulations, the movement characteristics of diffusion, sedimentation and accumulation of dust particles were investigated under the action of the complex air flow, and the spatiotemporal variation of dust distribution was studied with hybrid ventilation system. Meanwhile, the obtained dust distribution regularities were compared with the obtainable experimental results. Finally, selected method on different ventilation patterns for dust control was brought out for the heading face according to the gained regularity. The research results is helpful for further understanding of the essence of dust movement with air flow, which could provide more suitable guidance for the principle of dust control and technology of ventilation.     

Flame propagation in hybrid mixture of coal dust and methane

To investigate the flame propagation through hybrid mixture of coal dust and methane in a combustion chamber, a high-speed video camera with a microscopic lens and a Schlieren optical system were used to record the flame propagation process and to obtain the direct light emission photographs. Flame temperature was detected by a fine thermocouple. The suspended coal dust in the mixture of methane and air was ignited by an electric spark. The flame propagation speeds and maximum flame temperatures of the mixture were analyzed. The results show that the co-presence of coal dust and methane improves the flame propagation speed and maximum flame temperature notably, which become much higher than that of the single-coal dust flame. The flame front temperature varies with the coal dust concentration.     

Analysis of dust distribution in silo during axial filling using computational fluid dynamics: Assessment on dust explosion likelihood

In this study, the dust distribution in a silo during axial filling was modelled using a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The work focused on the dust concentration distribution in the silo, for evaluating the likelihood of a dust explosion in the silo. The simulation was conducted using a combination of renormalized (RNG) k-epsilon and discrete phase models, with standard pressure interpolation and a second order upwind scheme. The predicted dust concentration distribution showed a good agreement with experimental data adopted from the literature. It was found that the dust concentration distribution was influenced by mean velocity and turbulence flow. The simulation results suggest that the cornstarch concentration inside the silo was always above the lower explosion limit (LEL), hence requiring a mitigating action or a control system to reduce the explosion risk.     

Behavior of flames propagating through lycopodium dust clouds in a vertical duct

The structure of flame propagating through lycopodium dust clouds has been investigated experimentally. Upward propagating laminar flames in a vertical duct of 1800 mm height and 150×150 mm square cross-section are observed, and the leading flame front is also visualized using by a high-speed video camera. Although the dust concentration decreases slightly along the height of duct, the leading flame edge propagates upwards at a constant velocity. The maximum upward propagating velocity is 0.50 m/s at a dust concentration of 170 g/m³. Behind the upward propagating flame, some downward propagating flames are also observed. Despite the employment of nearly equal sized particles and its good dispersability and flowability, the reaction zone in lycopodium particles cloud shows the double flame structure in which isolated individual burning particles (0.5–1.0 mm in diameter) and the ball-shaped flames (2–4 mm in diameter; the combustion time of 4–6 ms) surrounding several particles are included. The ball-shaped flame appears as a faint flame in which several luminous spots are distributed, and then it turns into a luminous flame before disappearance. In order to distinguish these ball-shaped flames from others with some exceptions for merged flames, they are defined as independent flames in this study. The flame thickness in a lycopodium dust flame is observed to be 20 mm, about several orders of magnitude higher than that of a premixed gaseous flame. From the microscopic visualization, it was found that the flame front propagating through lycopodium particles is discontinuous and not smooth.     

CFD simulations of dust dispersion in the 1 m3 explosion vessel

According to standard procedures, flammability and explosion parameters for dusts and dust mixtures are evaluated in 20 L and/or 1 m³ vessels, with equivalent results provided a correct ignition delay time (60 ms in the 20 L vessel; 600 ms in the 1 m³ vessel). In this work, CFD simulations of flow field and dust concentration distribution in the 1 m³ spherical vessel are performed, and the results compared to the data previously obtained for the 20 L. It has been found that in the 1 m³ vessel, the spatial distribution of the turbulent kinetic energy is lower and much more uniform. Concerning the dust distribution, as in the case of the 20 L, dust is mainly concentrated at the outer zones of the vortices generated inside the vessel. Furthermore, an incomplete feeding is attained, with most of the dust trapped in the perforated annular nozzle. Starting from the maps of dust concentration and turbulent kinetic energy, the deflagration index K_St is calculated in both vessels. In the conditions of the present work, the K_St is found to be 2.4 times higher in the 20 L than in the 1 m³ vessel.     

Numerical simulation study of dust concentration distribution regularity in cavern stope

Based on the theory of gas-solid two-phase flow and the characteristics of cavern stope a model of dust migration was established. The dust concentration changing of cavern stope by ventilation in 20 min after blasting and the dust trajectory in different wind speed were simulated by Fluent Software. The results show that distribution of dust concentration is significantly affected by flow field of airway in cavern, and the dust concentration of inlet is higher than that of outlet and the highest one on the corner of inlet’s side. In the stope, the smaller the wind speed of inlet is, the shorter of dust can be captured, settled and discharged, the more obviously affected by the trajectory of gas flow field. It goes into the stage of clean cycle emissions after 60 s, the speed of dust concentration dropped is the biggest between 0 s and 70 s, the main dust in stope is respirable dust after 70 s, it needs much time to settlement.According to the measured data of metal mining, approximately 87% of dust was generated during the drilling and blasting in the mine (Wang, 1979). A lot of dust with high concentrations was produced during the cavern stope blasting and it was difficult to be discharged. It can help choose the right speed to rule out the dust quickly which produced during cavern blasting, if the dust concentration distribution and the dust migration law of different inlet velocity in the cavern can be verified, what’s more, the labor productivity can be increased. It has great significance for choosing reasonable ventilation parameters, reducing dust hazards of stope to researching the dust concentration distribution regularity in the stope.     

Differences and similarities of gas and dust explosions: A critical evaluation of the European ‘ATEX’ directives in relation to dusts

Explosive gas mixtures and explosive dust clouds, once existing, exhibit similar ignition and combustion features. However, there are two basic differences between dusts and gases which are of substantially greater significance in design of safety standards than these similarities. Firstly, the physics of generation and up-keeping of dust clouds and premixed gas/vapour clouds are substantially different. This means that in most situations where accidental explosive gas clouds may be produced quite readily, generation of explosive dust clouds would be highly unlikely. Secondly, contrary to premixed gas flame propagation, the propagation of flames in dust/air mixtures is not limited only to the flammable dust concentration range of dynamic clouds. The state of stagnant layers/deposits offers an additional discrete possibility of flame propagation.

The two European Directives 94/9/EC (1994) and 1999/92/EC (1999) primarily address gases/vapours, whereas the particular properties of dusts are not addressed adequately. Some recent IEC and European dust standards resulting from this deficiency are discussed, and the need for revising the two directives accordingly is emphasized.     

CFD modeling and simulation of turbulent fluid flow and dust dispersion in the 20-L explosion vessel equipped with the perforated annular nozzle

A three-dimensional CFD model was developed to simulate the turbulent flow field induced by dust feeding and the associated dust dispersion within the 20-L explosion vessel equipped with the perforated annular nozzle. The model was validated against experimental data for pressure and root mean square velocity.Simulation results have shown that the turbulent kinetic energy is rather uniformly distributed and its values are significantly lower than those attained with the rebound nozzle. Furthermore, the perforated annular nozzle is able to generate a uniform dust/air cloud. However, a consistent fraction of the dust remains trapped inside the nozzle and, thus, it does not contribute to the explosion process.     

空气中爆炸对巷道稳定性影响模拟研究

以西北某铀矿矿床某巷道为依托,针对巷道稳定性及巷道内爆炸问题,运用ANSYS软件对自重应力场下的巷道衬砌及围岩进行静力分析,得出巷道围岩有效应力分布情况及巷道断面上几个典型位置的位移量和等效应力值。在此基础上,再利用LS-DYNA显式分析功能模拟自重应力场下爆炸对计算,获得衬砌结构最大主应力和加速度时程曲线,分析爆炸波在巷道中传播规律,为巷道抗爆性设计提供参考。结果表明,巷道中的爆炸波会产生强烈的多次反射现象,并且在自重应力场下,直墙拐角处往往最先出现破坏。     

Numerical study on premixing characteristics and explosion process of starch in a vertical pipe under turbulent flow

Fire and explosion accidents are frequently caused by combustible dust, which has led to increased interest in this area of research. Although scholars have performed some research in this field, they often ignored interesting phenomena in their experiments. In this paper, we established a 2D numerical method to thoroughly investigate the particle motion and distribution before ignition. The optimal time for the corn starch dust cloud to ignite was determined in a semi-closed tube, and the characteristics of the flame propagation and temperature field were investigated after ignition inside and outside the tube. From the simulation, certain unexpected phenomena that occurred in the experiment were explained, and some suggestions were proposed for future experiments. The results from the simulation showed that 60–70 ms was the best time for the dust cloud to ignite. The local high-temperature flame clusters were caused by the agglomeration of high-temperature particles, and there were no flames near the wall of the tube due to particles gathering and attaching to the wall. Vortices formed around the nozzle, where the particle concentration was low and the flame spread slowly. During the explosion venting, particles flew out of the tube before the flame. The venting flame exhibited a “mushroom cloud” shape due to interactions with the vortex, and the flame maintained this shape as it was driven upward by the vortex.     

Numerical investigation of powder aerosolization in a mining rock dust dispersion chamber

We have conducted numerical simulations of dust dispersion within the NIOSH Rock Dust Dispersion Chamber. The apparatus consists of a low-speed background ventilation flow down a long box in which is placed a tray containing a rock dust powder. A nozzle upstream of the tray introduces a short pulse of a turbulent horizontal jet flow just above the powder surface. We have utilized an incompressible Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes k-ω model for the turbulent flow; particles are incorporated within a one-way Euler-Lagrangian formalism. The Rock Dust Dispersion Chamber ventilation flow exhibits a recirculation zone just above the powder-containing tray. Aerosolization proceeds via the interplay of the jet pulse flow with the background recirculation flow. The air flow is not well-mixed. The aerosolized dust is convected as a concentration cloud downstream towards the detection zone. For larger particles, gravitational settling depletes the convected cloud, so the instrument behaves as a horizontal elutriator. The instrument is robust with respect to misalignment of the jet nozzle. However, reduced streamwise drift velocity allows mixing to disperse the optically detected dust cloud concentration pulse. Our large particle simulation results compare favorably with published experimental results for large, polydisperse calcium carbonate rock dust.     

有障碍物半开口管道内氢气燃烧数值模拟研究

基于有障碍物氢气燃烧实验装置进行数值模拟研究,采用Fluent软件分析了半开口管道内障碍物对氢气/空气燃烧特性的影响。结果表明:障碍物会促进实验管段内氢气火焰加速,随着障碍物阻塞率和数量的增加,火焰加速更快且燃烧压力峰值更大;在相同阻塞率下,障碍物形状对氢气火焰速度和燃烧压力峰值的影响很小;燃烧压力随障碍物间距的增大先增大后减小,障碍物间距为3倍管道内径时产生的燃烧压力峰值最大。     

Visualization and analysis of dispersion process of combustible dust in a transparent Siwek 20-L chamber

Dust explosion severities are closely associated with dust dispersion behaviors. To characterize the dispersion process of dust cloud, visualization experiments were conducted by using a transparent Siwek 20-L chamber. Dispersion processes of typical carbonaceous dust were recorded by a high-speed camera and, with the image processing technique, the qualitative analysis based on the transmission of dust cloud was carried out. Results have evidenced the three consecutive stages of dust dispersion process: the fast injection stage of dust particles, the stabilization stage and the sedimentation stage of dust cloud. The motion of dust particles and the variations of dust cloud in space and time can be clearly distinguished. In the stabilization stage, the good uniformity of dust dispersion is achieved when the deviation of transmission data at different locations reaches to the minimum value. Under different nominal dust concentrations, the time periods for dust dispersion stabilization are found to be significantly different, suggesting that different dust concentrations should correspond to different ignition delay in order to accurately measure the explosion characteristics in the Siwek 20-L chamber. Moreover, it is found that the decrease trend of transmission with increasing nominal dust concentration will become gradually leveling off, different from the inversely proportional relationship according to the Bouguer's law, and this indicates that the actual dust concentration will be lower than the nominal concentration or the dust cannot be fully dispersed at the case of high dust concentration. According to the experiment, when the nominal dust concentration exceeds to 1000 g/m³, the transmission will no longer vary visibly.     

Experimental study on the influence of the nitrogen concentration in the air on the minimum ignition energies of combustible powders due to electrostatic discharges

As a useful method of preventing dust explosions, nitrogen (N₂), an incombustible gas, has been applied to an explosive atmosphere. This paper is a report that quantitatively determines whether the minimum ignition energy of powder depends on the nitrogen (or oxygen) concentration in the air. Hartman vertical-tube apparatus and six sample powders were used in this study. The results show that the minimum ignition energies of all of the powders used in this study increased with increased amounts of N₂ in the air. However, the effects were different in all of the sample powders. We finally suggest that the N₂ concentration of 84% (or above) prevents dust explosions due to electrostatic discharges in the industrial process with the sample powders used in this experiment.     

泄爆容器中粉尘爆炸的试验研究与数值模拟

为了解泄爆容器中粉尘爆炸的发展过程,采用试验和数值模拟相结合的方法对玉米淀粉在圆柱形容器内的泄爆过程进行研究。数值模型采用欧拉–拉格朗日方法模拟粉尘爆炸的两相流问题,通过求解非稳态的湍流两相反应流守恒方程对试验进行二维仿真。试验和模拟结果表明,点火位置对爆炸发展过程有明显影响,点火位置离泄爆口越远,容器中的最大泄爆压力Pred,max越高。在粉尘爆炸的安全防护设计中,应把点火位置作为重要影响因素之一加以考虑。     

Experimental study of the venting characteristics of dust explosion through a vent duct

To further understand the dynamic mechanism of dust explosion through a vent duct, we designed a small-scale cylindrical vessel connected with a vent duct and performed a dust explosion venting experiment under different opening pressures using corn starch as the explosive medium in this study. The results show that weakening effect of duct on venting is positively correlated with the opening pressure. The explosion pressure in the duct presents a three-peak-structure with time, successively caused by the membrane breaking shock wave, the secondary explosion in the tube, and the continuous combustion, and decreases gradually with the propagation distance. Meanwhile, the three pressure peaks are positively correlated with the opening pressure, while the time interval between them goes to contrary. The increase of opening pressure leads to the increase of secondary explosion intensity and reverse flow in the vessel, further accelerates the reaction rate in the vessel, and then shortens the duration of combustion in the vessel until the phenomenon of flame reignition in the vessel disappears.