Abstract：Recent advances in polyethylene dust explosion at home and abroad were reviewed and existing problems in researches about the polyethylene dust explosion were concluded, based on risk assessment of polyethylene production process, characteristic parameters of polyethylene dust explosion, the dynamics of damage caused by polyethylene dust explosion, explosion mechanism for the mixture of polyethylene dust and combustible gas, and explosion-proof and controlled explosion technique for polyethylene dust. Furthermore, some prospects concerning polyethylene dust explosion were presented as follows:1) comparative studies between different kinds of polyethylene dust explosion deserve to be carried; 2) the engineering models which can quantitatively predict the characteristic parameter of the explosion should be established; 3) the mechanisms and laws of dust explosion affected by combustible gas need to be investigated in depth; 4) the dust explosion risks can be evaluated further and quantitatively by means of systematic safety analysis and so on; 5) more efforts should be paid to research the dynamics and effective controlling of the polyethylene dust explosion. These will provide theoretical basis and practical guidance for intense research and accident prevention of security during the polyethylene production process.

Keywords：polyethylene; dust explosion; explosion disaster; accident prevention and control