Industrial Fire Prevention

From our friends at: Fike  Dust Explosion Propagation: Myths and Realities by: Jérôme Taveau Originally published 2013 Demystifying Dust Explosion Propagation for an Overall Explosion Protection Strategy The unfortunate propensity of dust explosions to destroy entire facilities and claim lives has been reported in numerous past incidents. A recent illustration is the massive explosion that occurred on February 7th, 2008 at the Imperial Sugar Company in Port Wentworth (Georgia), where 14 people were killed and 36 people were injured. Powder handling processes are often comprised of interconnected enclosures and equipment. Flame and pressure resulting from a dust explosion can therefore propagate through piping, across galleries, and reach other pieces of equipment or enclosures, leading to extensive damage. While the ability of dust explosions to propagate has been widely recognized, some misconceptions lead to the false sense of security that explosion isolation is not required. In...

From our friends at Stonehouse Safety Dust Collector – friend or foe? A Lesson in Dust Explosion Safety Now read this very carefully…. Statements 1: We want to prevent dust clouds forming on plant, yes? Preventing escape of airborne dust from your plant to workspaces and removing it is good, right? Collecting all that unwanted dust in dust collectors/ bag houses is the way to go, OK? Statement 2: In a study of the history of dust explosions, the United States Chemical Safety Board found that in all industries identified as experiencing a dust explosion between 1980 and 2005, dust collectors are the equipment most often involved in incidents [ref 1] ; In 2005, Zalosh et al. (2005) reported that dust collectors account for more than 40 percent of all dust explosions [ref 2]. As many of you will already have spotted, these 2 opening propositions can both be valid. They are not contradictory in any way; yet reading these statements together serves to highlight a really impo...

This is another type of question we hear frequently.  Related to a previous post about how to upgrade and protect older dust collectors.  "If my dust collector is small enough can I keep it inside?" From our friends at Powder Bulk Solids, the "Ask the Expert" Blog, and Shawn McCorkle with Oseco, a question about keeping smaller dust collectors inside and avoiding mitigation: Explosion Venting/Suppression Q&A   If I keep the air/material separator under 8 ft. 3 in., can I avoid explosive mitigation? Answered July 26th, 2010 by Expert: Shawn McCorkle This is a tricky question. NFPA 654 (7.13.1.2) requires that protection be provided for air material separators that have an explosion hazard. Section 7.13.1.1 requires that air-material separators shall be located outdoors unless it is has explosion protection per 7.1.2.1 (venting through duct, suppression, innerting, containment, flameless venting...

Truck driver claims injuries in explosion Madison County Record - Edwardsville,IL,USA"At the time of the rubber dust explosion, Plaintiff was standing adjacent to the dust collection system 'bag house' which erupted with flame and severely ... See all stories on this topic