Ignition mechanism of flammable dust and dust mixtures: An insight through thermogravimetric/differential scanning calorimetry analysis

Understanding flame propagation mechanism and thermal behavior of flammable dusts is of crucial importance, since they strongly affect the flammability and explosion parameters. In a previous work, we found that the volatile point of anthraquinone/nicotinic acid mixtures can be lower than the one of the pure dusts, suggesting a synergistic effect. In this work, thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry analyses of anthraquinone/niacin mixtures were carried out both in open and closed cup, to explain the observed synergistic behavior. FTIR analysis on solid residue and evolved gaseous species showed that the mixtures change compositions during the thermal treatment, without undergoing any chemical transformation. The thermal behavior of dust mixtures reveals the presence of a eutectic point, resulting in a volatiles production at lower temperature and accelerating the flame propagation.