Dust explosion vent sizing- Current methods and future developments

Abstract Protectton agamst dust exploston hazards 1s often based on venting Most destgn methods, whether codified m consensus standards or representing technologtes used by mdtvtdual orgamzattons, rely on emptrtcal correlattons with httle sctenttfic basis Research results, on the other hand, are generally presented m a form that makes then apphcatton to practtcal problems dtfftcult There are obvtous hmttattons assoctated wtth both approaches In the first Instance, there are uncertamttes m the extrapolatton of the destgn formulas beyond the range of the data. In the second, the proposed research tool can be too complex for the typical protectton engmeer and often requu-e utputs that may not be readily avatlable The paper addresses two dtrecttons tn which destgn methods can evolve to yteld more advanced predtcttve tools for engmeermg apphcattons The first entails makmg use of sample models to tdenttfy parameters that better capture the features of the available data As an extenston of thts approach, modehng can also be used m a predtcttve mode, tf the phenomenon being stmulated IS suffictently well understood The second entatls the development and eventual adoption of more advanced techmques, to address aspects of exploston problems that are currently well beyond the capabihttes of available methods Thts last step WIII be necessary for the technology to evolve Corn protection that ts based on a genertc explosion scenarto to designs that account for the spectfic condmons of the postulated acciden