New methodology for determinate initial temperature of gas related to combustion emissions

Abstract

Detection of incipient combustion process is a key factor in industrial safety as it can prevent severe accidents. Different methods to detect self-heating processes have been developed, as it might be the first step of self-ignition process, including the detection through gas emission methodology whose improvement is the aim of this study. Six different samples were tested using this procedure and, besides the test method turned to be stable, the temperature evaluation equation did not match the expected results. In order to improve the method, a new evaluation approach has been developed. The samples were tested in different granulometries so the method was applied to fourteen samples of six different types, so differences were seen in the initial temperature of gas emission. It was also compared the CO and CO2 initial emission temperature. In most of the samples the emission of CO was produced before CO2, but in some fine particle samples the CO2 was emitted before because the granulometry affects to the air available between the particles. The results were compared to the original evaluation procedure, and two more methods: the inflection point method and the environmental standard method. In all cases, the new procedure provides a better approximation as it considers the slope of the curve in its very beginning.