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Ethylene Oxide Explosions

Abstract

THE occasional occurrence of ethylene oxide explosions during the fumigation of dried fruit has led us to undertake a detailed study of the combustion characteristics of the vapour. An examination of the effect of pressure on the spontaneous ignition temperatures has yielded results somewhat like those for acetaldehyde1,2.. Cool flames can be initiated in ethylene oxide – air mixtures in the neighbourhood of 330° C. at atmospheric pressure.

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BURGOYNE, J., BURDEN, F. Ethylene Oxide Explosions. Nature 162, 181–182 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162181a0

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