The aim of the present work is to compare the Bartknecht correlations for gas and dust explosion venting that are used in NFPA 68 and in European Guidance on vent design with experimental data published in various literatures and see how well (reliable) the correlation predicts experimental results. The published experimental data for vented explosions from various gases and dusts-air mixture were compared with data computed using the Bartknecht correlations. Separately, the data for different gas reactivity (KG) for same venting geometry were compared. The influence of volume, V, vents static burst pressure, Pstat, vent area, Av and length to diameter ration, L/D of vessel on explosion over-pressure have been determined. Analysis of the experimental data and computed results have shown that Bartknecht correlations grossly overpredicted vented explosion overpressure, Pred for gas explosion. Some over-predictions were observed to be in the order of 10 and have implication of designing a vent area than required and this can substantially led to the increase in design costs. Reverse was the case for dust explosion with the majority of the experimental data under-predicted and this is not safe for vent design as red P has to be lower than the vessel design strength. Therefore, as the Bartknecht equations does not safely predict experimental results, US NFPA 68 and Draft EU Guidance on gas and dust venting design cannot be use with confidence and there a need for more experimental research that will actually address the reason for the overprediction and underprediction of vent area required for small volumes for gas and dust explosion venting respectively.
