Chemical Engineering and Processing 44 (2005) 323–326

Controlling dust emissions and explosion hazards in

powder handling plants
Peter Wypych, Dave Cook∗ , Paul Cooper
Centre for Bulk Solids and Particulate Technologies, Faculty of Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong NSW 2522, Australia

Received 27 August 2003; received in revised form 2 January 2004; accepted 11 February 2004
Available online 17 July 2004

Abstract

This paper presents results from investigations into quantifying and modelling the dust generation and air entrainment mechanisms that
occur during free-falling streams of material. Emphasis is placed on the effects of drop height and product temperature. This information is
important for the efficient design and operation of dust control systems, as well as minimising the risk and severity of dust explosions.
© 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Keywords: Dust generation; Drop height; Product temperature

1. Introduction predict such information are inaccurate and unreliable. This

The efficient control of dust or particulate emissions in
the workplace and general environment is becoming increas-
ingly important in industry for many reasons:
• more stringent OH&S legislation;
• decreasing allowable emission levels;
• loss of material (e.g. spillage, dust emissions);
• risk of dust explosions when handling combustible solids;
• maintenance and clean-up costs;
• damage to process equipment;
• premature failure of dust control systems, especially for
hot processes;
• aesthetics;
• increasing pressure from the government and/or commu-
nity;
• society becoming more environmentally conscious.
The design of a suitable dust control system for a par-
ticular application requires knowledge of dust generation
and air entrainment. The interaction of these two parameters
with the process (e.g. solids throughput, powder properties,
temperature, drop height, velocity) also must be considered
for this purpose. Unfortunately, the existing techniques to
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 2 4221 3488; fax: +61 2 4221 4577.
E-mail address: peter wypych@uow.edu.au (D. Cook).
paper aims to:
• describe and examine dust generation and air entrainment
mechanisms;
• present some of the latest research work and results in
trying to quantify and model air entrainment and dust
generation/control;
• examine process effects on dust generation;
• describe some techniques to minimise/eliminate dust gen-
eration and emissions (e.g. velocity control);
• explore the implications of the above findings for dust
explosion hazards.
Some case studies are included to provide examples and
also demonstrate some of the more important issues.
2. Dust generation and air entrainment
One of the most difficult processes in which to control dust
generation is that where a bulk material is dropped under
free-fall conditions to impact on a stockpile or other surface.
Examples of this type of situation are shown in Fig. 1.
The approach generally taken to control the dust in such
situations is to partially or fully enclose the process. A very
common example of this is the case of conveyor transfer
stations, where bulk material is dropped from the end of
one conveyor onto the start of another. Even when only a

0255-2701/$ – see front matter © 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.

doi:10.1016/j.cep.2004.02.026
324 P. Wypych et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 44 (2005) 323–326

Fig. 1. Examples of dust generation processes involving free-fall of bulk material.

very small fraction of the parent bulk material is liberated

as fugitive dust the total quantity of dust generated may be
enormous due to the very large throughput of the parent
material.
For the designer of such enclosures there are two major
questions that need to be answered:
(a) what is the volume of dusty air that should be extracted
from the enclosure?
(b) what is the concentration of dust in the air?
As yet, there is no reliable method of answering either of
these questions. This paper considers the most fundamental
situation of a product free falling under steady-state condi-
tions from a hopper at a given height above a stockpile. It
also examines briefly the effect of product temperature on
dust generation.

3. Previous research
The first serious attempt to predict the quantity of air
entrained by a falling stream theoretically was that of
Hemeon [1]. Hemeon modelled the air entrainment process
as one whereby the drag force exerted by each solid parti-
cle was essentially equal to that of a single particle falling
through a quiescent fluid. He deduced that the induced
(entrained) air flow, Qind , is given by (converted here to SI
units):

1/3
0.66g ṁ(hA)2
Qind = m3 /s (1)
(dp ρp )
where g = gravitational acceleration, ṁ = mass flow rate of
solids, h = drop height, A = cross-sectional area of material
stream, dp = particle diameter and ρp = particle density.
Tooker [2] then used this approach to formulate a means
of calculating the extract air requirements for enclosures,
such as conveyor transfer stations. The equations of Hemeon
[1] and Tooker [2], and variations thereon, are used widely
in industry. However, they generally grossly over-predict the
rate of air entrainment unless empirical correction factors
Fig. 2. Dust generation and air entrainment for falling stream of material.
are applied. This is a result of the inherent assumption that
the flow in the stream is made up of particles that act in-
dependently, whereas the reality is that: the stream of parti-
cles form a relatively coherent stream, Fig. 2; and particles
within the stream interact with the quiescent ambient to a
much lesser extent than if they were falling independently
through the fluid.
4. Experimental facility and results
Two experimental rigs were used for this study. The first
rig comprised a double-feed hopper arrangement to ensure
a virtually constant mass flow rate of powder during each
test. The hopper arrangement was mounted on a frame that
could be raised or lowered to change drop height and was
suspended on cables connected to three load cells to en-
able the mass flow rate to be recorded. The bulk material
dropped through a hole in a shelf above the stockpile and
air was extracted from underneath the shelf at a rate such
that the air pressure under the shelf was kept exactly equal
 P. Wypych et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 44 (2005) 323–326 325

Fig. 3. Experimental rig used to measure entrained air and dust generation.
Fig. 4. Specific air entrainment results of Smithers (x symbols) and Glutz
(
symbols) using alumina with drop heights of 625–650 mm.
to that of the external ambient air, as shown in Fig. 3. A
pressure observation port between the space under the shelf
and outside allowed the pressure to be equalised between
the surrounding air and the underside of the shelf by smoke
visualisation. Under these conditions, the volume of air ex-
tracted from beneath the shelf was equal to the total vol-
ume of air and bulk material falling through the aperture.
A relatively inert and robust powder, alumina (median size
= 96 ␮m, particle density = 2465 kg/m3 ; loose-poured bulk
density = 1010 kg/m3 ), was selected for testing.
The second rig involved the release of approximately 2 kg
of hot alumina from an electrically heated hopper in a sealed
box. The alumina was dropped onto a plate at the bottom
of the box and the dust liberated during the fall and subse-
quent impact was collected in petri dishes and weighed to
determine the specific dust generation rate G = (dust liber- Fig. 5. Dust generation from a falling stream of alumina as a function of
ated/mass of parent material). The motivation for this work temperature difference (drop height = 500 mm, mass = 2.0 kg).
came from the need to understand the fundamentals of dust
generation during hot solids handling processes, such as The results of the experiments to determine how the rate
those involved in cement and coke production. of dust generation is influenced by the temperature differ-
ence between the bulk material and the surrounding ambient
air are shown in Fig. 5 [6]. Clearly, temperature difference
has a very strong influence on dust generation rates for
5. Results and discussion
materials with a relatively high proportion of fines. For the
alumina used in these experiments a temperature difference
The volume of entrained air was found to be proportional
of 140 ◦ C results in an increase in dust generation rate
to the drop height raised to the power of approximately 5/3.
by approximately an order of magnitude. This could ex-
This is in contrast to Eq. (1) where the expected index is
plain the premature failure of dust filtration systems on hot
2/3 [3]. This is an important result and suggests that a better
processes, where existing design and selection techniques
approach to modelling of the air entrainment process might
could be grossly under-estimating actual dust loadings.
come from the use of a modified plume theory.
The specific air entrainment (i.e. air entrainment per unit
mass of parent bulk material) was found to decrease with
6. Dust explosion hazards
increasing mass flow rate of solids, Fig. 4. The solid line
correlates the results of Smithers [4] and Glutz [5] and shows
In many instances, it may be possible to reduce the risk
that specific air entrainment is proportional to ṁ−0.67 . If the
and severity of dust explosions by minimising the generation
particles in the falling stream behaved independently of one
and turbulence of dust. In a falling stream of material:
another, each interacting in the same way with the ambient
air, then the specific air entrainment would be constant with • the main core of falling powder is surrounded by a tur-
respect to mass flow rate. The experimental results show that bulent layer of fine dust, which escapes easily into the
this is not the case. surrounding air, Fig. 2;
326 P. Wypych et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 44 (2005) 323–326
• air is entrained in the falling stream of dilating powder;
• the impact zone is a highly turbulent region where the en-
trained air is ejected into the atmosphere at relatively high
velocity and carries with it a large amount of fine dust;
• considerable reductions in dust concentration and turbu-
lence, as well as dust explosion risk and severity, can
be achieved by minimising drop height and hence, the
amount of entrained air, as demonstrated previously.
The situation depicted in Fig. 2 is exacerbated for pneu-
matically filled bins. Here, the velocity at impact can be
quite high, especially when the material reaches high level.
Employing a large “drop-out box” or “tee-bend” can reduce
the extent and severity of dust generation. Further reductions
in dust loading, explosion risk and severity may be possible
by using a tangential entry. For example, Hauert et al. [7]
found that the reduced explosion pressures for the tangential
pneumatic filling of wheat flour and corn starch were 3–5
times smaller than those obtained with central filling.
Significant increases in dust also can occur during
the dilute-phase transport (suspension flow) of granular
materials, such as sugar and wheat. The relatively high
transport velocities can cause particle attrition and a sig-
nificant increase in fines, as well as an increased level of
electrostatic charge generation and risk of spark ignition.
Significant reductions in velocity are achieved by pursu-
ing the dense-phase (non-suspension) mode of flow. Here
the particles are conveyed either in fluidised dense-phase
(e.g. for air-retentive powders, such as flour and starch) or
low-velocity slug-flow (e.g. for granular products, such as
wheat and sugar). The following typical operating condi-
tions for wheat conveyed through a 105 mm × 96 m long
pipeline demonstrate the possible (velocity) differences
between dilute-phase and dense-phase.
• Dilute-phase (suspension flow): solids mass flow
= 6 t h−1 , air mass flow = 0.260 kg s−1 , solids loading
= 6, pipeline pressure drop = 30 kPa, transport velocity
= 19.3–25.0 m s−1 .
• Dense-phase (low-velocity slug-flow): solids mass flow
= 6 t h−1 , air mass flow = 0.065 kg s−1 , solids loading
= 26, pipeline pressure drop = 120 kPa, air velocity = 2.9
to 6.3 m s−1 .
In addition to the obvious advantages of reduced air flow,
velocity and hence, power, dense-phase offers the following
additional benefits.
• Particle velocity is controlled easily in the range
0.25–2 m s−1 .
• Particle damage and dust generation are extremely low
and often unable to be detected (e.g. sugar crystals can be
conveyed without even being scratched).
• Electrostatic charge generation and risk of spark ignition
are very low.
• The concentration of particles inside the pipeline is ex-
tremely high and beyond the upper explosible limit (UEL).
This forms a natural “buffer zone” or “barrier” for any
explosion that may occur in a vessel at either end of the
pipeline (i.e. flame propagation is unlikely). This could
avoid the need for explosion suppression and/or isolation,
which would be required normally for a dilute-phase or
dust extraction system.
• The frequency and turbulence of particles striking the filter
elements are extremely low.
• Filtration requirements (e.g. filter surface area) also are
quite low.
7. Conclusions
Free-falling bulk solids can produce large quantities of
fugitive dust and comprise core and boundary layer regions.
Specific air entrainment increases with drop height, but de-
creases with increasing solids mass flow rate. Higher temper-
atures or transport velocities increase dust generation rates
dramatically. Significant reductions in velocity and dust gen-
eration are achieved by selecting the dense-phase mode of
flow. Such findings should be considered for the efficient
design and operation of dust control and explosion control
systems.
References
[1] W.D.L. Hemeon, Plant and Process Ventilation, Industrial Press, New
York, USA, 1963.
[2] G.E. Tooker, Bulk Solids Handling 12 (1992) 227–232.
[3] P. Cooper, P.C. Arnold, Air entrainment and dust generation from
a falling stream of bulk material, Kona Powder Particle 13 (1995)
125–134.
[4] T. Smithers, Generation of Dust from a Falling Stream of Material, BE
Honours Thesis, Mechanical Engineering, University of Wollongong,
1994.
[5] A. Glutz, Air Entrainment in Falling Streams of Material, BE Honours
Thesis, Mechanical Engineering, University of Wollongong, 1995.
[6] B. Perrin, Dust Generation from a Heated Bulk Solid, BE Honours
Thesis, Mechanical Engineering, University of Wollongong, 1999.
[7] F. Hauert, A. Vogl, S. Radandt, Dust cloud characterization and its
influence on the pressure-time-history in silos, Process Safety Progress
15 (1996) 178–184.