A Review of the Fire and Explosion Hazards of Particulates

Particulate fires and explosions cause substantial loss of life and property. With the goal of understanding, preventing, or at least mitigating particulate fire and explosion hazards, we review basics. We distinguish between ‘hazard’ and ‘risk’ and discuss the fire and explosion hazards of particulates, the many factors determining such hazards, hazard indexes, and ways to reduce fire and explosion hazards. While our primary goal is to improve safety, we briefly discuss how fundamental knowledge can be extracted from weapon technology based on particulate combustion. We review the prevention of and protection against particulate explosions and discuss ongoing and future research.