Vented dust explosions: comparing experiments, simulations and standards

Paper in proceeding, 2022

A vented corn starch dust explosion in an 11.5 m3 vessel is studied by comparing experiments, simulations and the standards. The reduced explosion overpressure inside the vessel is recorded using two pressure sensors installed on the inner wall of the vessel. 3D Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes simulations of the experiment are performed using the Flame Speed Closure (FSC) model and its extended version. The FSC model predicts the influence of turbulence on premixed combustion, and the extended version allows for self-acceleration of a large-scale flame kernel, which is associated with the combustion-induced thermal expansion effect. Such an extension is highly relevant to large-scale industrial application. The explosion overpressure-time trace computed using the extended FSC model agrees reasonably well with the experimental data. Furthermore, the effect of vent size and ignition location on the explosion overpressure is studied by comparing the simulation results and the standards. The developed numerical tool and model is especially useful for scenarios, which are not addressed in the standards, and it deserves further study in simulations of other large-scales dust or gaseous explosions together with comparison with experiments.