THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MINIMUM IGNITION ENERGY AND IGNITION TEMPERATURE FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFICACY OF IGNITION SOURCES IN DUST AIR MIXTURES .1. MINIMUM IGNITION ENERGY AND IGNITION TEMPERATURE

The minimum ignition energy and minimum ignition temperature of dust/air mixtures are important technical safety indices. They are used for the assessment of the efficacy of the ignition sources expected in dust/air mixtures. First of all, the test apparatus and the determination procedures are introduced, including the significant influencing parameters on the mentioned indices. Finally the correlations between the minimum ignition energy and the efficacy of electrostatic sparks, between the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature and the mechanically generated sparks on the one hand and the limiting oxygen concentration and the limiting gap width of combustible dusts on the other hand and between the minimum ignition temperature and hot steel surfaces or glowing particle nests surfaces are described.