Integration of Safety Aspects in Modeling of Superheated Steam Flash Drying of Tobacco

Robert Adamski, Dorota Siuta, Bożena Kukfisz, Michał Frydrysiak and Mirosława Prochoń
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Robert Adamski: Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska Str. 213, 90-924 Lodz, Poland
Dorota Siuta: Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska Str. 213, 90-924 Lodz, Poland
Bożena Kukfisz: The Main School of Fire Service, Faculty of Security Engineering and Civil Protection, Słowackiego 52/54, 01-629 Warszawa, Poland
Michał Frydrysiak: Faculty of Material Technologies and Textile Design, Lodz University of Technology, St. Zeromskiego 116, 90-924 Lodz, Poland
Mirosława Prochoń: Faculty of Chemistry, Lodz University of Technology, Stefanowskiego 12/16, 90-924 Lodz, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-22

Abstract: Knowledge of the drying properties of tobacco in high temperatures above 100 °C and its dust are crucial in the design of dryers, both in the optimization of the superheated-steam-drying process and in the correct selection of innovative explosion protection and mitigation systems. In this study, tobacco properties were determined and incorporated into the proposed model of an expanding superheated steam flash dryer. The results obtained from the proposed model were validated by using experimental data yielded during test runs of an industrial scale of a closed-loop expansion dryer on lamina cut tobacco. Moreover, the explosion and fire properties of tobacco dust before and after the superheated steam-drying process at 160, 170, 180, and 190 °C were experimentally investigated, using a 20 L spherical explosion chamber, a hot plate apparatus, a Hartmann tube apparatus, and a Godbert–Greenwald furnace apparatus. The results indicate that the higher the drying temperature, the more likely the ignition of the dust tobacco cloud, the faster the explosion flame propagation, and the greater the explosion severity. Tobacco dust is of weak explosion class. Dust obtained by drying with superheated steam at 190 °C is characterized by the highest value of explosion index amounting to 109 ± 14 m·bar·s −1 , the highest explosion pressure rate (405 ± 32 bar/s), and the maximum explosion pressure (6.7 ± 0.3 bar). The prevention of tobacco-dust accumulation and its removal from the outer surfaces of machinery and equipment used in the superheated steam-drying process are highly desirable.

Keywords: tobacco; superheated steam; drying; fire; explosion; safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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