Minimum ignition Temperature Test - KELVN Safety Services

The minimum ignition temperature (MIT) test determines the lowest temperature required to ignite a
dust cloud in air.
Hot surfaces capable of igniting dust clouds can exist in a number of situations in industry. Inside
furnaces, burners, and dryers of various kinds they constitute part of the process equipment itself.
Hot surfaces can also be generated by electrical heating and hot work, and by frictional overheating of
bearings and other mechanical parts.
In areas in industry where explosible dust clouds may occur, it is clearly important to know the
minimum temperatures of any hot surfaces there, at which explosible dust clouds making contact with
these surfaces, will ignite.
As soon as adequate estimates of these minimum temperatures are available, adequate precautions can
be taken to ensure that temperatures of hot surfaces in such areas do not rise to these value.
The test gives a basis for temperature classification into T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6 where particular T-rated
equipment is used.