Abstract
With the growth of the magnesium recycling market, the risk of fire and explosion has been raised over time. In particular, dross generated in the process of magnesium recycling is not considered as a hazardous material even though it contains a lot of pure magnesium and/or magnesium compounds. There are few safety measures to prevent and respond to potential fires and explosions in the magnesium recycling process and to protect employees. Therefore, this study aims to identify appropriate safety measures to reduce the risk of fire and explosion in the magnesium recycling process by looking at two actual magnesium fire cases and relevant criteria in South Korea, the US, and Japan. Also, a combustion experiment using magnesium powder was conducted to identify the significant combustion phenomena of magnesium. Lastly, we developed a fire safety mechanism of magnesium, including chemical reaction, smoldering, and ignition. Each phase presents five contents for different safety measures in the visibility of combustion reaction, the velocity of the combustion reaction, identification methods, response measure, and possible responders. Although this study focused on dross from the magnesium recycling process, it is expected to be useful to develop a better risk management strategy to reduce the risks in the recycling process of metals.
Highlights
Magnesium has been widely applied in various industries, including aeronautics, pyrotechnics, and in the base materials of paints and chemicals due to its lightweight and extreme mechanical strength [1,2,3]
This study explored appropriate preparedness and response measures and conducted an actual magnesium combustion experiment in order to prevent fires in the magnesium recycling plants by looking at two actual magnesium fire cases in South Korea, including relevant national and international standards
We identified the combustion process, which is pre-smoldering with white smoke, spreading fire, and post-smoldering
Summary
Magnesium has been widely applied in various industries, including aeronautics, pyrotechnics, and in the base materials of paints and chemicals due to its lightweight and extreme mechanical strength [1,2,3]. Magnesium, as a combustible metal, is a significant water-reactive substance and a high-risk metal that causes fires and explosions due to magnesium’s lowest melting and boiling point among the alkaline-earth metal groups. These characteristics of magnesium pose serious safety concerns with respect to fires and explosions, if not appropriately managed [2,4,5,9]. Approximately 75% of magnesium atoms react with oxygen, producing MgO (2Mg + O2 → 2MgO), and Mg3 N2 is synthesized by the direct nitridation reaction of 25% Mg with N2 (3Mg + N2 → Mg3 N2 ) [12,13] In this ignition process, the temperature is reached up to 3273.15 K
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