Simulating the Effect of Release of Pressure and Dust Lifting on Coal Dust Explosions

Abstract

Dispersion of accumulated layers of combustible dust by turbulent flow or shock waves ahead of a propagating flame can play an important role for explosion propagation in coal mines. In 1924, Greenwald and Wheeler investigated this process in a series of large-scale dust explosion experiments, performed in a 750 feet long experimental gallery. In the present paper, these experiments are simulated with the computational fluid dynamics code DESC (Dust Explosion Simulation Code), using a simple empirical model to describe the process of dust lifting.