Flame Arresters

A Flame Arrester is designed to allow the safe flow of gases and liquids while preventing flame transmission.

Flame Arresters are composed of spirally wound metal bands with precisely reproducible flame-quenching gaps. These gaps are adjusted to the ignition transmission capability of explosive vapors.

The FLAMEFILTER® is made of wound metal strips and forms an effective band arrester. This flame-quenching principle is applied in PROTEGO® end-of-line flame arresters and in-line flame arresters.

When a mixture ignites in a gap, the flame spreads towards the unburned mixture. The volume expansion of the burned mixture pre-compresses the unburned mixture and accelerates the flame propagation. Heat dissipation to the large surface of the gap lowers the temperature below the ignition temperature, thus extinguishing the flame.

The gap width and gap length determine the extinguishing effectiveness of the Flame Arrester. A narrower and longer gap extinguishes the flame more effectively, while a wider and shorter gap reduces the pressure loss. Experiments can determine the optimum solution between the two conditions.