Understanding Combustion Mechanism of Magnesium for Better Safety Measures: An Experimental Study

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.