A Study of the Initiation Process of Dust Layer Detonation

Detonations of dust-oxidizer gas systems have recently attracted considerable attentions because of their possible role in explosion hazards of combustible dusts such as corn starch, wheat, aluminum, coal and so on. In these detonations in a heterogeneous system, the structure of the reaction zone behind the shock front may be very complex because physical processes such as momentum, heat and mass exchanges between particles and the gas phase are coupled with chemical processes. The present study aims to elucidate the initiation process of dust layer detonation using corn starch in a horizontal tube. Experimentally, the behaviour of shock waves and reaction waves are elucidated in the initiation process of dust layer detonation.