Dust explosion modeling: Status and prospects

Accidental dust explosions pose a threat to people and property in industries that produce, process, handle or transport combustible dusts. Over the last century, the international research community has made significant progress towards better understanding of the dust explosion phenomenon. These efforts have contributed to the development of improved standards and best practice guidelines for safe design and operation of process facilities. Results obtained with advanced consequence models demonstrate the potential for applying such tools to the design and optimization of process facilities and equipment for explosion protection. It is foreseen that further development of numerical methods will include improved representation of particle-laden flows and combustion. It is essential that safety engineers acknowledge the inherent limitations and uncertainties associated with the collection of dust samples from industrial facilities, parameters determined in standardized tests, and the extrapolation of results from laboratory experiments to accidental explosion scenarios in industry. This paper reviews some of the practical aspects associated with risk assessments and risk management for dust explosions in the process industries, with emphasis on consequence modeling. The discussion outlines prospects for further development of test methods and simulation tools for industrial dust explosions, and provides recommendations for safety engineers and researchers.