Radiation heat transfer in transient dust cloud flame propagation

• The effect of radiation on dust flame has been studied by using the discrete heat source method.
• The diameter (dp), burning time (τ), concentration (Cd) of particles, absorption coefficient (ɛ) and flame temperature (Tf) affect dust flame.
• The radiation heat transfer plays dominant role in the dust cloud flame.
• The radiation is main source of pulsating flame and explosion in the dust cloud flame.
• The more amounts of radiation, instability and explosion in a dust cloud mixture is much possible.

This study investigates the impact of radiation heat transfer and heat conduction on dust cloud combustion. Radiation plays a very important role in the stability of dust cloud flame, and increasing the amount of radiation drastically raises the possibility of instability and explosion in a dust cloud mixture. Flame speed, which is a function of mixture characteristics, can exhibit a fluctuating behavior. By using the discrete heat source method, it would be possible to study the transient propagation of dust flames. Thus, the propagation speed of flame can be obtained, and as time goes by, the transient speed of dust flame will reach its steady state value. By considering the radiation effect, better agreement is observed between the obtained results and experimental data.