CFD Analysis of Dust Explosion Relief System in the Counter-Current Industrial Spray Drying Tower

The aim of the paper was to evaluate the performance of venting devices in an industrial counter-current spray tower during dust explosion using a CFD model and EN14491:2006 standard. Three-dimensional CFD simulations of dust explosion in the spray tower for six different configurations of safety vents located at the top and side walls of the dryer were carried out. In the calculations, in which dust was replaced with a flammable gas-air mixture, the following parameters of dust explosion were analyzed: reaction progress, maximum and average gas temperature, gas velocity, and pressure. Reduced pressures calculated according to EN 14991:2006 standard are close to maximum pressure obtained from CFD simulations for all analyzed spatial configurations of the safety vents, which proves that the CFD model can be used both to design explosion mitigation systems and to describe the mechanism of explosion propagation in the drying chamber. Results of the calculations allowed us to evaluate the performance of analyzed venting devices, to determine the spatial configuration and parameters of venting devices that should be installed to minimize damages of the dryer construction.