Results are presented of an experimental investigation of the sensitivity of clouds of high explosive dusts in air to ignition by electrostatic sparks. The sensitivities are derived from determinations of the frequency of ignition of dispersed clouds of dusts when subject to electric sparks of varying energies. In addition to dust composition the parameters considered include the density of the cloud and the particle size distribution. The influence of the discharge circuit characteristics on the ignitability of dust clouds is also investigated. The majority of the tests were conducted with quasi‐static dust clouds, but results are also presented from tests with moving dust clouds. These clearly indicate that the energy required for ignition increases with the velocity of the carrier gas.
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