Explosion Characteristics Analysis of Low-Density Polyethylene Dust

-Ensuring safety in the designing of manufacturing and handling facilities for low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is difficult because there are no standards for the dust explosion characteristics of LDPE. In this study, a dust explosion test was performed on two dust samples collected from a bag filter (LDPE 1) during the LDPE manufacturing process and sedimentary dust (LDPE 2) leaked outside a facility such as a silo, and the LDPE 2 explosion test results were summarized. Particle size analysis showed that the volume-based particle diameter (median) was 95.04 gm and the number density was 0-1 gm. The maximum explosion pressure (Pmax) was 6.6 bar, and the maximum rate of explosion pressure rise was 366 [bar/s] at 1500 g/m3. Accordingly, the dust explosion index (Kst) was 99.4 bar & BULL;m/s, which was confirmed as ST-1 grade. Moreover, the minimum ignition energy and minimum ignition temperature was 10 mJ and 450 celcius, respectively. Currently, manufacturing and handling design is based on the characteristic values of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). However, as the test results show that LDPE 2 dust has a higher risk than HDPE (particle diameter 61.6 gm), caution is required when using the HDPE design criteria in the LDPE manufacturing process.