The role of turbulence in dust explosions is effectively neglected by current vent sizing guidelines, which typically rely on experimental results obtained from tests reproducing near worst-case conditions. Work carried out at FMRC in a 64-m(3) enclosure has established the dependence of the pressure developed in vented dust explosions on the turbulence at the time of ignition. As a prelude to the use of these results in models of dust explosions, the generation of turbulence by jet Bow into a closed volume has also been investigated. While detailed models will be necessary to advance the understanding of the fundamental processes of turbulent dust explosions, they will probably not be suitable for engineering calculations for some time, due to their complexity and high demand on resources. An alternative approach is proposed in the paper, involving the simulation of the flame propagation process by a lumped-parameter method. Encouraging results have been obtained with the standard k-epsilon model (applied to the entire volume) in reproducing the global effects of the turbulence generation process due to jet flow injection. This treatment of the turbulence, when coupled with the flame propagation model already applied successfully to the simulation of turbulent gas explosions, is believed to offer a more appropriate solution for the performance of engineering calculations in practical systems, where the conditions of the process may only be defined in terms of overall quantities. The paper discusses the basis for the modelling approach and presents results obtained to date.