MLM: Dust Explosion Potential Warning System

A quite large range of materials, when dispersed as a dust cloud in air, can support an explosion. Empirically derived minimum explosive concentration (MEC) values are typically in the range: 30-80 grams/m$^{3}$; that is, nominally 2.5-8.3{\%} of STP density. Currently, there is no field-deployable measurement system to determine the mass loading (grams/m$^{3})$ of airborne dust. Proof-of-concept measurements for the MSU Mass Loading Monitor (MLM) are reported. A charge of dusty air, ingested into a cylinder, is accelerated (a$_{p}$=ct) by a driving piston and partially ($\approx $8{\%}) discharged from the open end of the cylinder. The deformable control volume momentum equation can be integrated with respect to time to yield $\alpha _{( )}-\beta _{( )}=\gamma \rho _{( )}$ where ( ) will indicate with (w) or without (w/o) dust. The pressure integral ($\alpha )$ and the shear integral ($\beta )$ balance the momentum within the cylinder at the end of the smoke plus the integral of the momentum flux. The kinematic attributes of these terms are represented by $\gamma $. It will be shown how the mass loading ($\rho _{w}-\rho _{w/o})$ can be determined. A full length paper (The Mass Loading Monitor Fundamental Principles And Proof Of Concept) will be published in \textit{Meas. Sci. and Tech.}