Two-dimensional analysis of a dust explosion

Peak pressures and propagation velocities for dust explosions have for many years been studied as a function of particle concentration. There are, however, no multidimensional models in the literature which can be used to compute local pressures and impluses needed to access the potential damage caused by a detonation. A two‐dimensional two‐phase hydrodynamic computer model was developed in this study to predict pressure propagation in dust explosions. Two cases of detonation of dispersed powders injected into a rectangular cavity were analyzed. The ignition of an idealized, uniformly distributed powder in a box produced a pressure peak that propagated through the powder with an increasing amplitude from the ignition source at one corner. The computational maximum pressure agreed with an approximate calculation of the Chapman‐Jouguet pressure. The pressure propagation for the more realistic nonuniform initial particle distribution produced several peaks not unlike those observed on the ground below the detonation. Computed pressures agreed roughly with the measured average pressure peaks.