Analysis of non-sparking metallic materials for potentially explosive atmospheres

Abstract

In few specific applications the explosive potential of environment in case of sparks presence is very high, like petroleum or natural gaseous media or even grain mills, and usage of non-sparking materials is extremely important. The damage produce by an explosion can be more expensive, 1000 times, than the cost of the metallic elements that can produce sparks. In case of working gears, that can produce sparks in time, is recommended the use of special metallic materials. The most used material for gears is steel and in this case can be replaced with a bronze with aluminum and beryllium to reduce the possibility of sparks production. In this article the obtaining of an aluminum bronze with beryllium is analyzed and is considered the possibility to use it as alloy for gears proposed for explosive environments.