The use of additive technologies keeps growing. Increasingly, flammable powder materials are also used in additive technologies, and there is a risk of explosion or fire when using them. The current article deals with the determination of fire parameters of a powder sample of polyamide Sinterit PA12 Smoth in accordance with the EN 14034 and EN ISO/IEC 80079-20-2 standards. For that purpose, a sample at a median size of 27.5 µm and a humidity of 0% wt. was used. The measurements showed that the maximum explosion pressure of the PA12 polyamide sample was 6.78 bar and the value of the explosion constant K_st was 112.2 bar·m·s⁻¹. It was not possible to determine the MIT value of the settled dust, since the melting point of polyamide sample is low. The MIT of the dispersed dust was 450 °C. Based on the measured results, it can be stated that the powdered polyamide PA12 poses a risk in terms of explosions and fires. Therefore, when using polyamide PA12 in additive technologies, it is necessary to ensure an effective explosion prevention.

Polymers and their processing by engineering production technologies (injection, molding or additive manufacturing) are increasingly being used. Polymers used in engineering production technologies are constantly being developed and their properties are being improved. Granulometry, X-ray, FTIR and TGA were used to characterize polymer samples. Determination of the fire parameters of powder samples of polyamide (PA) 12, polypropylene, and ultra-high molecular weight (UHMW) polyethylene is the subject of the current article. An explosive atmosphere can be created by the powder form of these polymer materials, and introduction of preventive safeguards to ensure safety is required for their use. Although the fire parameters of these basic types of polymers are available in databases (e.g., GESTIS-DustEx), our results showed that one of the samples used (polypropylene) was not flammable and thus is safe for use in terms of explosiveness. Two samples were flammable and explosive. The lower explosive limit was 30 g·m⁻³ (PA12) and 60 g·m⁻³ (UHMW polyethylene). The maximum explosion pressure of the samples was 6.47 (UHMW polyethylene) and 6.76 bar (PA12). The explosion constant, K_st, of the samples was 116.6 bar·m·s⁻¹ (PA12) and 97.1 bar·m·s⁻¹ (UHMW polyethylene). Therefore, when using polymers in production technologies, it is necessary to know their fire parameters, and to design effective explosion prevention (e.g., ventilation, explosive-proof material, etc.) measures for flammable and explosive polymers.

A commercially available pyrotechnic igniter was used according to the EN 14034 and ASTM E1226a Standards to study the explosiveness of dispersed dusts. Its pyrotechnic composition consists of 1.2 g of zirconium (40% wt.), barium peroxide (30% wt.) and barium nitrate (30% wt.). The energy released during the combustion of that amount of composition is 5 kJ. The article investigates the influence of aging of the pyrotechnic composition in the igniter on its initiation parameters. In the study, igniters of different years from date of manufacture were used: Igniter 1, manufactured in 2021 (less than 1 year from date of manufacture), and Igniter 2 (more than 2 years from date of manufacture). The study was performed in the KV 150M2 explosion chamber with a volume of 365 L and the 20 L sphere chamber with a volume of 20 L. A standard sample of Lycopodium clavatum was used in the KV 150M2 explosion chamber. Magnesium and benzoic acid were used as the samples in the 20 L sphere explosion chamber. The experiment showed that the explosion pressure P_max of the igniter with more than 2 years from date of manufacture decreased by up to 10%, while the value of the explosion constant K_st decreased by up to 40%. The attained results proved that aging of igniters affects their explosion parameters and measurement accuracy.