ABSTRACT
Damage caused by the Buncefield explosion suggests pressures in excess of 2000mbar over all of the area covered by the vapour cloud. In contrast evidence from CCTV cameras suggests an average rate of progress of the explosion of around 150 m/s The high overpressures and low average rate of flame advance can be reconciled if the rate of flame advance is episodic with periods of very rapid combustion being punctuated by pauses when the flame advances very slowly. The widespread high overpressures are caused by the rapid phases of combustion; the low average speed of advance is caused by the pauses.
Weinberg's mechanism of flame spread through radiative ignition of particulates ahead of the flame front [1, 2] provides a possible explanation for such unusual behaviour.
This paper explores the consequences of Weinberg's suggestion at high particle densities and explores how the theory might be developed into a practical means of assessment. Preliminary results are compared with incident data.
Keywords: Vapour cloud explosion, Overpressure, Particulates.
