Nanometal dust explosion in confined vessel: Combustion and kinetic analysis
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-20-2021
Abstract
Extensive application of metal powder, particularly in nanosize could potentially lead to catastrophic dust explosion, due to their pyrophoric behavior, ignition sensitivity, and explosivity. To assess the appropriate measures preventing accidental metal dust explosions, it is vital to understand the physicochemical properties of the metal dust and their kinetic mechanism. In this work, explosion severity of aluminum and silver powder, which can be encountered in a passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) solar cell, was explored in a 0.0012 m(3) cylindrical vessel, by varying the particle size and powder concentration. The P-max and dP/dt(max) values of metal powder were demonstrated to increase with decreasing particle size. Additionally, it was found that the explosion severity of silver powder was lower than that of aluminum powder due to the more apparent agglomeration effect of silver particles. The reduction on the specific surface area attributed to the particles' agglomeration affects the oxidation reaction of the metal powder, as illustrated in the thermogravimetric (TG) curves. A sluggish oxidation reaction was demonstrated in the TG curve of silver powder, which is contradicted with aluminum powder. From the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, it is inferred that silver powder exhibited two reactions in which the dominant reaction produced Ag and the other reaction formed Ag2O. Meanwhile, for aluminum powder, explosion products only comprise Al2O3.
Keywords
Particle-size, Aluminum, Behaviors
Divisions
sch_che
Funders
Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE) under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) [R.J130000.7851.5F392],Universiti Malaya [GPF065A-2018],Universiti Teknologi Malaysia [UTM CRG Q.J130000.2451.08G95/R.J130000.7351.4B572]
Publication Title
ACS Omega
Volume
6
Issue
28
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Publisher Location
1155 16TH ST, NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20036 USA