UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

 BULLETIN No. 681 



Also Bulletin 26 of The Engineering Experiment Station 

 The Pennsylvania State College 



Contribution from the Bureau of Chemistry 



CARL L. ALSBERG. Chief 



. and the Engineering Experiment Station of The Pennsylyania State College 



R. L. SACKETT, Dean 



Washington, D. C. 



May 18, 1918 



GRAIN-DUST EXPLOSIONS 



INVESTIGATION IN THE EXPERIMENTAL ATTRITION MILL 

 AT THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE COLLEGE 



By 



B. W. DEDRICE, Instructor in Milling Engineering, and R. B. FEHR, Assistant 

 Professor of Mechanical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State College, 

 in collaboration with DAVID J. PRICE, Engineer in Charge, Grain- 

 Dust Explosion Investigations, Bureau of Chemistry, 

 Department of Agriculture 



CONTENTS 



Object and Scope of the Investigation . 1 

 Principles Underlying Grain-Dust Ex- 

 plosions '..... 4 



Apparatus Used in Investigation ... 6 



Materials Used in Investigation ... 10 



Experimental Work ........ 10 



Experiments from Ai^l 6, 1916, to Octo- 

 ber 3. 1917 12 



Discussion of Results and Conclusions . 39 



Summary of Conclusions ...... 48 



Appendix: 



Recommendations for Future Inves- 

 tigations 49 



Resume of Some Past Explosions . 49 



Bibliography 52 



WASHINGTON 

 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 



1918 



