Experimental Analysis of Hot-Surface Ignition Temperature of a Dust Layer of Selected Dusts

Dust explosion are one of the biggest threats in many industry where dust layer and/or cloud form during technology processes, which are capable of ignition. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB in USA) identified at least 281 dusts fire and explosion that occurred in US industrial facilities from 1980 to 2005. In this project paper, a study on experimental analysis of hot-surface ignition temperature of a dust layer of a selected flammable dust is conducted. The method used to conduct the experiment is to determine the hot-surface ignition temperature by using hot plate following the E 2021-01 ASTM Standards. Mainly, the study will focus on the non-ferrous powder dust samples. The factors considered in the study will be the types of dust and the layer thickness of dusts. Based on the experiments conducted, it was observed that the non-ferrous powder dust samples e.g. magnesium oxide, aluminium, aluminium oxide, zirconium oxide and copper oxide did not produced an ignition throughout the tests. Test carried out on zinc powder showed discoloration on the samples for the test using 12.5 mm thickness of dust layer. The hot-surface ignition temperature recorded was 206oC. Tests carried out for iron powder also showed discoloration on the samples and the temperatures observed were approximately 177oC and 236oC for the sample thickness of 5 mm and 12.5 mm respectively. At the end of the paper, the minimum ignition energy will be determined for all dust samples. These findings would be useful to further understand the dust explosion mechanism and further improve the database of the ignition temperature and ignition energy for the samples tested.