One of the main issues related to particle technology is disasters and troubles due to the possibility of generating charged particles as a result of collisions between particles and equipment wall. Indeed, the electrostatic discharge can occur in the system leading to explosion or fire. In order to prevent these hazards, modeling and simulation of the conveying pneumatic particle are required. This paper deals with the simulation of particle pneumatic conveying process inside an inclined tube. By using a particular approach that assumes the electrification of particles inside the tube depends directly upon the vertical collision velocity against the tube wall, the model is developed. Simulation of the particle movements inside the tube, distribution of electrostatic charges over the particle surfaces as well as the possibility of fire as a result of discharging the electrostatic energy are investigated. The possibility of fire is investigated by comparing the amount of electrostatic energy with minimum ignition energy (MIE) of the particles. The capabilities of the developed model are tested and confirmed by different analysis including the effect of particle diameter, the volumetric flow of the air and the tube wall material. Finally, several solutions are proposed to manage the risk of fire and explosion.
