ESD stimulated ignition of metal powders

A commercial ESD testing apparatus was modified with electrical and optical diagnostics to visualize ignited and cold particles ejected from the sample holder, obtain Joule heating energy, measure ignition delays and particle burn times, and correlate results. Experiments determined the fraction of spark energy dissipated in the powder. Several ignition criteria were used to interpret the experimental data. It is recommended that instead of commonly used Minimum Ignition Energy, measures of ignition sensitivity can be obtained from the burn times and the distance traveled by burning particles at a given spark energy.