Synthesis of a Novel Inhibitor and Its Inhibition Mechanism on Aluminum Dust Explosions

A green and efficient nanoinhibitor VC-PA-MEL for aluminum dust explosion was synthesized in this study. The inhibition effect of the novel inhibitor on aluminum dust explosions was systematically studied. Results showed that after adding VC-PA-MEL, the dust flames transited from the luminous flame with a continuous structure to irregular discrete flames. The flame propagation velocities of 30 and 5 mu m dust declined to 96.54 and 99.38%, respectively. The minimum inhibition concentrations for 30 and 5 mu m aluminum dust were 600 and 800 g/m(3), respectively. Explosion residuals were analyzed to reveal the inhibition mechanism of VC-PA-MEL in detail. VC-PA-MEL can effectively inhibit the explosion of aluminum dust through the synergistic physics and chemistry effects. In general, the combustion heat could be absorbed and the free radicals could be scavenged. VC-PA-MEL provides a potential direction for developing efficient inhibitors for the inhibition of aluminum dust explosions and to improve process safety.