Combined Effect of Dispersion Pressure and Concentration on Minimum Ignition Temperature of Corn Dust using Response Surface Methodology - Preliminary Investigation

Abstract

Corn dust is a significantly energetic dust and widely used substance in food processing industries. It not only poses dust hazards like suffocation or lungs related issues to the exposed workers but also is highly combustible under a conducive environment. In this study, the minimum ignition temperature (MIT) of corn dust clouds was evaluated at varying combinations of dispersion pressure and concentration using a Godbert-Greenwald (G-G) furnace. A response surface was generated using design expert as a tool for the application of response surface methodology (RSM). The predicted R2 and adjusted R2 are reasonably in close agreement as the difference is less than 0.2. The predicted surface is found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. However, as this is a preliminary study, the model will be improved in future research.