Numerical simulation of dust explosions in pneumatic conveyors

Dust conveyors are used in a wide range of industrial applications. Explosi ons can be transmitted through dust conveyors to different parts of a proce ssing facility and thus can cause a large amount of damage. In order to stu dy the evolution of dust explosions in such conveyors, a numerical model wa s developed which combines a front tracking method with a solver for the Eu ler equations. In this model the effects of the chemical reactions and of t he flow turbulence were summarized in the turbulent burning velocity of the dust-air mixture. This approach results in a large reduction of the comput ational effort and thus allows to study the influence of parameter variatio ns. Here results are presented for corn starch-air mixtures. The numerical model was first calibrated by comparison with one set of experimental data. The model was then tested by comparison with different experimental data a nd the sensitivity of the model parameters is discussed. Finally calculatio ns were performed for different dust concentrations, flow velocities and tu be lengths.