Calibrated explosive triangle for determining capacity of explosion of gas mixtures

Determination of the capacity for explosion of gas mixtures in a sealed area is very important for mining engineers. If this capacity is high, it would be very dangerous for rescue workers to proceed with their rescue operations. A number of methods have been developed to determine the capacity for explosion of gas mixtures in sealed areas. One of the more popular methods is the Coward explosive triangle, published by Coward. He presented a fast and easy way to determine the capacity for explosion of gas mixtures, which has proved to be a very useful tool for mining engineers and members of rescue teams. However, due to few drawbacks in this method; potential errors would be introduced when it is applied. In a brief introduction we first describe the Coward method and then, we propose and discuss new calibrated explosive triangles. We demonstrate the method in two case studies where we compare our results with those of the old model. The results indicate that the calibrated method have improved accuracy and reliability. Therefore, assessments can be made more accurately. © 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology.