Dust explosions are a dangerous but less common phenomenon in any industry where combustible dust is present as an intermediate or final product. This also includes the wood-processing industry, as it has a higher incidence of dust-explosion accidents.
In this master’s thesis, we sought to determine whether the content of volatile components has any influence on the occurrence and consequences of dust explosions. We selected three samples of wood dust with different contents of volatile components: oak wood dust (HLP-I), chestnut wood dust (KLP-I) and chestnut wood dust with extracted tannin (KLP-II). We performed and described the following experiments: sieve analysis, determination of bulk and tapped density, determination of specific surface area, determination of particle size and particle-size distribution, thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, CHN analysis, determination of MIE, determination of MEC, determination of pmax and determination of (Δp/Δt)max. Based on the results of the sieve analysis, we selected the particle-size fraction of the samples: 160 μm > x > 100 μm. Gas analysis was used to determine the quantity and type of gases formed during thermal analysis. The MIE for all three samples was >1000 mJ, indicating the stability of the selected wood dusts. XRD analysis showed that KLP-II has a higher content of inorganic components. From the other measurements, we identified a possible correlation between the higher content of volatile components in the wood samples and an increase in (Δp/Δt)max.
The collected data on the properties and explosion parameters of wood dust make it possible to determine effective preventive and corrective measures for managing dust explosions in wood-processing facilities, thereby contributing to a higher level of technical safety.
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