Systematizing risk assessment and responses to combustible dust from explosive characteristics

A systematic approach to defining dust explosion risks is presented, utilizing key parameters: minimum ignition energy (MIE), minimum ignition temperature of dust clouds (MITC), minimum explosion concentration (MEC), maximum explosion overpressure (Pmax), and the dust explosion characteristic index (Kst). These parameters form the basis for robustly assessing combustible dust explosion risks. Drawing on experimental findings, a safety evaluation method empowering plant operators to directly assess the safety of dust-handling processes was devised, ensuring effective dust explosion prevention. Evaluation of three common dust samples (aluminium, polyethene, and lycopodium) revealed varying explosion risks. Through comparative analysis with existing literature, this study aligns risk definitions, proposing a scoring method for process safety controls to effectively mitigate dust cloud explosion risks.