Citation

Sharma TP, Varshney BS, Kumar S. Fire Safety J. 1993; 21(2): 153-176.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper is the second in a series and covers the burning behaviour of individual heaps of magnesium powder on a sand bed, and on aluminium, copper and mild steel sheets and bowls. Ignition followed the procedure described in Part I of this paper. It is found that beds of insulated and conducting materials influence the burning behaviour of the magnesium powder heap significantly. Thus, the severity of a fire in 100 g of magnesium powder is greatest on a sand bed and least on a metal bowl bed. Analyses of the temperature-time distribution curves reveal that if the shape of the bed is not flat, then temperatures attained in the top and bottom layers of the powder heaps are less than the corresponding values obtained when the beds are flat surfaces. Studies of individual heaps of magnesium powder on sand beds has established that the burning behaviour of heaps containing less than 100 g is different from those with 100 g or more. During the burning of 400 and 800 g metal powder heaps, white flames of about 225-300 mm height were observed.