Rock dust inerting of coal dust explosions in a 20-L Siwek explosion chamber

Laboratory-scale experiments were conducted in a Siwek 20-L spherical explosion chamber to examine the influences of ignition energy, coal dust concentration, and particle size of rock dust on suppression of coal dust explosions.;The amount of rock dust required to inert an explosion was found to increase as the ignition energy used to initiate the explosion was increased. Excessively high amounts of rock dust were required when using high ignition energies. This is due to a phenomenon termed overdriving the explosion. Results show that an ignition source greater than 5 kJ will overestimate the amount of rock dust required to inert an explosion. The amount of rock dust required to inert an explosion decreases as coal dust concentration increases. Dust concentrations near stoichiometric require the greatest amount of rock dust to inert. The experimental results in this thesis also show that as rock dust particle size decreases, less rock dust is required to inert an explosion.;Comparison of these experimental results with other researchers show that a 5-kJ ignition source produces inerting levels similar to those determined in mine-scale experiments and that a 2.5-kJ ignition source produces inerting levels similar to those determined in the United States Bureau of Mines 20-L chamber. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...