Study on the influence of material thermal characteristics on dust explosion parameters of three long-chain monobasic alcohols

Sensitivity and severity parameters are critical for risk assessment and safety management of dust explosions. In this paper, to reveal the effects of material thermal characteristics on dust explosions parameters during monobasic alcohols dust explosions, three long chain monobasic alcohols, being solid at room temperature and similar in physical–chemical properties, were chosen to carry out experiments in different functional test apparatus according to the internationally accepted ASTM standards. As a result, it was found that the material thermal characteristics strongly affected these basic explosive parameters. On the one hand, for the sensitivity parameters, Minimum Ignition Temperature, Minimum Ignition Energy and Electrical Resistivity were the highest in the Eicosanol dust cloud, while Minimum Explosible Concentration in this cloud was the lowest. On the other hand, for severity parameters, Maximum Explosion Pressure in Eicosanol dust cloud always maintained the highest values as varying the dust concentrations. In contrast, Deflagration Index showed a complex trend.

► Ignition Temperature and Energy are higher in Eicosanol dust cloud.
► Minimum Explosible Concentration decreased with the increase in the number of carbon atoms.
► Electrical Resistivity increased with the increase in the number of carbon atoms.
► Pressure increased earlier and reached a lower value in Hexadecanol dust cloud.
► Deflagration Index showed a complex trend.