Suppression characteristics and mechanisms of solid inhibitors on sawdust explosions in dust transportation systems

The explosion characteristics of pine sawdust mixed with typical inhibitors (calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, ammonium phosphate) were investigated under different inerting ratios in a vertical flame propagation device. Different analytical analyses by TG-DTG-DSC and FTIR analysis were also coupled to understand the physical and chemical mechanisms of the treated samples. The results show that the flame propagation velocity and the peak pressure decreased by more than 50% for an inerting ratio of 60 wt%. This work clarifies the suppression characteristics and mechanism of different inhibitors in the flame propagation of biomass dust and yields some insights into the prevention and mitigation of biomass dust explosions in industrial applications.