A vented corn starch dust explosion in an 11.5 m3 vessel: Experimental and numerical study

A vented corn starch dust explosion in an 11.5 m3 vessel is studied using both experimental and numerical methods. The reduced explosion overpressure in the vessel is recorded using two pressure sensors mounted on the wall inside of the vessel. Unsteady three-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes simulations of the experiment are performed using the Flame Speed Closure (FSC) model of the influence of turbulence on premixed combustion. The model was thoroughly validated in previous studies and was earlier implemented into OpenFOAM CFD software. The self-acceleration of a large-scale flame kernel is associated with the influence of combustion-induced pressure perturbations on the flow of unburned reactants ahead of the kernel. Accordingly, the FSC model is extended by adapting the well-known experimental observations of the self-similarity of the kernel acceleration. Influence of different turbulence models on the simulated results is also explored. Thanks to the extension of the FSC model, the measured time-dependence of the pressure is well predicted when the k-omega-SST turbulence model is used.