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Article history:
Received 21 June 2015
Received in revised form
8 November 2015
Accepted 15 December 2015
Available online 18 December 2015
Flame propagation behaviors of nano- and micro-polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) dust explosions
were experimentally studied in the open-space dust explosion apparatus. High-speed photography with
normal and microscopic lenses were used to record the particle combustion behaviors and ame microstructures. Simple physical models were developed to explore the ame propagation mechanisms.
High-speed photographs showed two distinct ame propagation behaviors of nano- and micro-PMMA
dust explosions. For nano-particles, ame was characterized by a regular spherical shape and spatially
continuous combustion structure combined with a number of luminous spot ames. The ame propagation mechanism was similar to that of a premixed gas ame coupled with solid surface combustion of
the agglomerates. In comparison, for micro-particles, ame was characterized by clusters of ames and
the irregular ame front, which was inferred to be composed of the diffusion ame accompanying the
local premixed ame. It was indicated that smaller particles maintained the leading part of the propagating ame and governed the combustion process of PMMA dust clouds. Increasing the mass densities
from 105 g/m3 to 217 g/m3 for 100 nm PMMA particles, and from 72 g/m3 to 170 g/m3 for 30 mm PMMA
particles, the ame luminous intensity, scale and the average propagation velocity were enhanced. Besides, the ame front became more irregular for 30 mm PMMA dust clouds.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Dust explosion
Nano- and micro-PMMA particles
Flame structure
Propagation mechanism
1. Introduction
Accompanying the wide use of nano-particles in a number of
elds such as solar cell materials, electrode materials, high-density
magnetic recording materials, high toughness ceramic materials,
catalyst materials, and body repair materials in recent years, nanosafety has been attracted as an urgent concern. As the core aspect of
nano-safety, dust explosion is a phenomenon that a ame is
propagating in combustible nanoparticles dispersed in the air. The
explosion intensity of nano-particles is typically stronger than
micro-particles. Studies on nano-dust explosion have been extensively conducted, most of which were focused on the explosion
sensitivity (Minimum Explosible Concentration (MEC), Minimum
Ignition Energy (MIE) and Minimum Ignition Temperature (MIT))
and the explosion severity (Maximum Explosion Pressure (Pmax),
Maximum Rate of Pressure-rise ((dP/dt)max), and Deagration Index (KSt)) (Krietsch et al., 2015; Mittal, 2014; Boilard et al., 2013;
Eckhoff, 2012; Li et al., 2011; Wu et al., 2009). Though the likelihood of an explosion increased signicantly as the particle size
decreased into the nano-range (Mittal, 2014; Boilard et al., 2013),
particles in nano-range were not expected to exhibit more severe
than micro-powders (Mittal, 2014; Eckhoff, 2012) due to the serious
agglomeration effect of nano-dust clouds. Flame propagation
mechanisms through combustible particle clouds for better understanding dust explosions, were mainly proposed for microparticles (Gao et al., 2014, 2015; Cao et al., 2014; Dobashi and
Senda, 2006; Proust, 2006; Sun et al., 2000). Gao et al. (Gao et al.,
2013) demonstrated that the ame front structure changed along
with varying the particle size distributions in micro-range. Ju et al.
(Ju et al., 1998) pointed out that the ame structure and propagating velocity were depended on the mass density and the
diameter distribution of micro particles strongly. But were the
ame structure and propagation mechanism changed when moving from micro-to nano-scale? Until now, the current understanding of ame propagation mechanism in nano-dust cloud is
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X. Zhang et al. / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 40 (2016) 101e111
103
72
138
170
105
168
217
Table 2
Characteristic diameters of 30 mm and 100 nm PMMA particles.
Diameters
D[4,3] (mm)
D[3,2] (mm)
Dv (10) (mm)
Dv (50) (mm)
Dv (90) (mm)
28.974
24.080
16.509
24.523
43.186
24.877
10.486
6.151
22.543
46.764
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forces, electrostatic forces and the liquid bridge forces. The theoretical van der Waals force Fw between two spherical particles was
Fw
A d1 d2
a2 d1 d2
(1)
Fw
Ad
2a2
(2)
which indicated that the Van der Waals' force was enhanced with
decreasing particle diameter.
For PMMA particles used in this study, the electrostatic contact
force was negligible. In addition, because the particles were dried in
a drying oven for at least 24 h before experiments, the liquid bridge
force between particles caused by the water content could also be
negligible. The inter-particle forces probably mostly depended on
the Van der Waals forces, which meant that the inter-particle
forces of PMMA particles were increasing as decreasing the particle diameter.
The agglomeration between particles mainly depended on the
dimensionless number C0:
C0
F
mg
(3)
where F was the inter-particle forces, m was the mass of the particles, and g was the gravitational acceleration.
It can be concluded that the smaller the particle diameter, the
larger the agglomeration dimensionless number. For 100 nm
PMMA particles, the inter-particle forces were of signicance and
the agglomerates were easily formed. These results conrmed the
larger particle size distribution than the provided value of 100 nm
PMMA particles as shown in Fig. 3.
X. Zhang et al. / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 40 (2016) 101e111
105
Fig. 5. Flame propagations of 100 nm PMMA dust cloud with mass density of 168 g/m3 (a) and 30 mm PMMA dust cloud with mass density of 170 g/m3 (b).
PMMA dust cloud with mass density of 170 g/m3 were obtained and
showed in Fig. 7. In these experiments, the ame front of 100 nm
PMMA dust cloud reached the upper boundary of the open combustion space at 60 ms after ignition, while the 30 mm PMMA dust
cloud kept burning until 70 ms. It was indicated from Fig. 7(a) that
the ame front of 100 nm PMMA dust cloud moved upward nearly
linearly after ignition, whereas for 30 mm PMMA dust clouds, the
ame front position exhibited a different trend due to the complex
propagation mechanism that the combustion reaction only
occurred in the regions where the gaseous pyrolyzate of dust particles was available, resulting in the diffusion ame combined with
the local premixed ame and clusters of ame fronts. In the early
combustion stage of 30 mm PMMA dust cloud, the distance of ame
front from the ignition point to the highest point of the ame front
showed a pattern of rst decreasing, keeping constant, and then
increasing. This was indicated that the combustion reaction rst
occurred in the ignition area. Because the effect of particle sedimentation of unburnt particles was more signicant than that of
thermophoresis force in the early stage of combustion, the ame
propagated on other directions rather than upward direction, thus
the ame front position could keep constant or even move downward. With more particles participated in the combustion reaction,
more heat was released and the thermophoresis was accelerated.
The ame propagated upward where the gaseous pyrolyzate of
dust particles was available, and the distance of ame front was
increased. It was notable that in the later combustion process the
ame front propagation exhibited the tendency of increasingkeeping constant-increasing, which represented the ame
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X. Zhang et al. / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 40 (2016) 101e111
Fig. 6. The original ames and the corresponding ame contours of 100 nm and 30 mm PMMA dust clouds with different mass densities.
Fig. 7. Flame front positions from ignition point and ame propagation velocities with time after ignition of 100 nm PMMA dust cloud with mass density of 168 g/m3 and 30 mm
PMMA dust cloud with mass density of 170 g/m3.
X. Zhang et al. / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 40 (2016) 101e111
107
Fig. 8. Flame propagations of 100 nm PMMA dust clouds with mass densities of 105 g/m3, 168 g/m3 and 217 g/m3.
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X. Zhang et al. / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 40 (2016) 101e111
Fig. 9. Flame propagations of 30 mm PMMA dust clouds with mass densities of 72 g/m3, 138 g/m3 and 170 g/m3.
Bi
hc Lc Qr Lc 1
Lc hc sDTi3
l
lDTi l
(4)
hc
lNu
Lc
(5)
Nu 2 0:6Re 2 Pr
using the high-speed camera with the microscopic lens, the ame
structures were more clearly observed. Flame propagation through
100 nm PMMA dust cloud with mass density of 168 g/m3 was
depicted in Fig. 11(a), and the corresponding ame structure was
illustrated in Fig. 11(b). After ignition by the electrical spark, the
ame kernel was formed. The adjacent suspended particles
absorbed the released heat and were pyrolyzed and decomposed to
form the combustible gas mixture. The continuous ame was
developed. The glowing particles were soot particles produced in
the combustion reaction. Then the particles in the preheated zone
were heated for the subsequent oxidation reaction.
It is important to point out that there were a number of luminous spot ames in the combustion zone. These luminous spot
ames might be the agglomerates existed in 100 nm PMMA dust
clouds. The combustion reaction rst occurred on the surface of the
agglomerates where the pyrolysis gases were available. As the
combustion proceeding, the agglomerates were completely pyrolyzed and gasied with more heat transfer, and the ame then
exhibited homogenous and smooth structure. This result indicated
that the smaller particles played an important role in the ame
propagation.
Flame propagation and structure through 30 mm PMMA dust
cloud with mass density of 138 g/m3 were shown in Fig. 12, which
indicated an obvious different propagation type compared with
that of 100 nm PMMA dust cloud. The ame propagating through
30 mm PMMA particles formed a complicated structure.
After ignition by the electrical spark, the particles around the
electrodes were rapidly pyrolyzed and reacted with oxygen to
release the heat. At the same time, the particles in the preheat zone
were heated through thermal radiation and heat conduction. As the
direct ame photographs showed that the ame propagated to one
area, developed, and then to another area. As the combustion
proceeded, clusters of ames were formed where the gaseous pyrolyzate of dust particles was available, then combined and propagated as the ame propagating outward. The propagation of such
clusters of ame was a diffusion ame accompanying the local
(6)
X. Zhang et al. / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 40 (2016) 101e111
109
Fig. 10. Flame front positions from ignition point and ame propagation velocities with time after ignition of 100 nm and 30 mm PMMA dust clouds with different mass densities.
LC D
(7)
Bi 2 0:6Re 2 Pr
DsDTi3
l
(8)
In the present case, the size distribution of 30 mm PMMA particles was consistent satisfactorily with the value provided while
the size distribution of 100 nm PMMA particles was obviously
larger than the provided value due to the serious agglomeration
effect. But the Sauter diameter of 100 nm PMMA particles was still
much smaller than that of 30 mm PMMA particles, which indicated
that the Biot number of 100 nm PMMA particles was smaller than
that of 30 mm PMMA particles. So for 100 nm PMMA particles, the
particle size was smaller enough so that the heating and pyrolysis
steps were very fast, leading to gas combustion controlling the dust
explosion. But for 30 mm PMMA particles, other phenomena such as
pyrolysis and particle heating controlled the explosion process.
The ame structures of PMMA dust clouds with different
diameter scales could be categorized into two regimes: for 100 nm
PMMA particles, the ame was characterized by a regular spherical
shape and spatially continuous combustion structure combined
with numerous luminous spot ames which corresponding to the
burning of the agglomerates. The ame propagation mechanism
4. Conclusions
Flame propagation behaviors of 100 nm and 30 mm PMMA dust
explosions were experimentally studied in the open-space dust
explosion apparatus. High-speed cameras with normal and
microscopic lenses were used to record the combustion behaviors
and ame microstructures. The conclusions obtained were as
follows:
1) For 100 nm PMMA dust clouds, the ames grew symmetrically
and propagated spherically. Whereas for 30 mm PMMA dust
clouds, clusters of ames were formed and propagated in the
local regions where the gaseous pyrolyzate of dust particles was
available with the irregular ame front.
2) The ame luminous intensities of 100 nm PMMA dust clouds
were stronger than those of 30 mm PMMA dust clouds due to the
faster reaction with oxygen.
3) Increasing the mass density from 105 g/m3 to 217 g/m3 for
100 nm PMMA particles, and from 72 g/m3 to 170 g/m3 for
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Fig. 11. Flame propagation and structure through 100 nm PMMA dust cloud with mass density of 168 g/m3.
Fig. 12. Flame propagation and structure of 30 mm PMMA dust cloud with mass density of 138 g/m3.
X. Zhang et al. / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 40 (2016) 101e111
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