Combustion and explosion characteristics of sugar dust

White crystal sugar is produced as a raw material in large quantities worldwide and further-processed in a variety of ways. This is where mechanical stressing of the sugar crystals in the various industrial processes is capable of generating fine combustible dusts that form a hazardous explosive atmosphere when suspended in the air. The risk of the formation of a hazardous explosive atmosphere is particularly acute during the production of the raw material in view of the large quantities with a share of explosive fine dust. Apart from the water content, the chemical composition is the same in all installations, while the processing methods and particle size characteristics differ. In explosion protection, a dust's maximum explosion overpressure and the maximum rate of pressure rise are important safety parameters for installation design. In systematic investigations of the sugar fractions under atmospheric conditions, particle surface area and calorific value have been found to correlate with the safety parameters, thus permitting a simplified estimate of these parameters.