Characterization of Ti powders mixed with TiO2 powders: Thermal and kinetic studies

The fire and explosion risks of metal powders admixed with solid inertants have been extensively investigated for many years. However, it remains unclear why such solid mixtures have high potential fire and explosion risk even when mixed with high percentages of non-combustible solids. This paper investigates how to interpret these risks, from a microscopic perspective, with thermal and kinetic parameters including initial ignition temperature, mass unit exothermic energy, activation energy and risk index of spontaneous combustion. The results show that the initial ignition temperature based on TG (Thermogravimetry) analysis is related to ignition sensitivity, and increased with percentage of admixed solid inertant. The unit mass exothermic energy based on DSC (Differential scanning calorimetry) analysis is related to flame spread velocity. Activation energy and the risk index of spontaneous combustion can be used to explain the reactivity and spontaneous combustion hazard, respectively, of metal powders. We conclude that thermal and kinetic parameters may provide another way to describe the fire and explosion risk of combustible powders, especially for nano metal powders due to the laboratory safety in the normative tests for explosion parameter determination.