Combustibility and flammability
A combustible material is a material that can burn in air under certain conditions. A material is flammable if it ignites easily at ambient temperatures. In other words, a combustible material ignites with some effort and a flammable material catches fire immediately on exposure to flame.
DIN4102 Flammability Class B1 Vertical Shaft Furnace at Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany
Sample Holder for DIN4102 Flammability Class B1 Vertical Shaft Furnace
German test apparatus for determining combustibility at Technische Universität Braunschweig
DIN 4102 B1 (difficult to ignite/often self-extinguishing) Silicone caulking used as a component in firestopping piping penetration
A dust explosion is the rapid combustion of fine particles suspended in the air within an enclosed location. Dust explosions can occur where any dispersed powdered combustible material is present in high-enough concentrations in the atmosphere or other oxidizing gaseous medium, such as pure oxygen. In cases when fuel plays the role of a combustible material, the explosion is known as a fuel-air explosion.
Lab demonstration with burning lycopodium powder
1878 stereograph rendering of the Great Mill Disaster
Mount Mulligan mine disaster in Australia 1921. These cable drums were blown 50 feet (15 m) from their foundations following a coal dust explosion.
Aftermath of 2008 explosion at Imperial Sugar in Port Wentworth, Georgia, US