Industrial Fire Prevention

We have been invited to speak at the TAPPI Bio Pro Expo and IBBC Conference on the Best Practices in Biomass Drying panel, on how to protect biomass drying systems from fires and explosions. TAPPI's annual 2011 International Bioenergy and Bioproducts Conference (IBBC) is co-locating at BioPro Expo™ Wednesday, March 16, 2011 BioPro Session 24 - Panel III - Best Practices in Biomass Drying Panel Facilitator: Joe Lukasik, AMEC Panelists: 24.1 "Direct Contact Single-Pass-Recycle Dryer System" - Zo Savovic, TSI Inc. 24.2 "Superheated Steam Drying of Woody Biomass" - George Svonja, GEA Barr-Rosin 24.3 "How to Protect the Biomass Drying Process from Fires, Explosions and Downtime; Protecting Production, Optimizing Performance" - Jeff Nichols, Southeast Fire Prevention 24.4 Fred Bennett, Metso

"Every year an estimated 2000 dust explosions occur in factories and refineries in Europe" I thought this was a startling statistic, and wanted to share it. - Jeff Nichols HazardEx - Dust to Dust Dust to Dust By Author : J GALE Dr Julian Hought of risk management specialists, HFL Risk Services, explains the hidden dangers of flour and other dry ingredients and how we can guard against potentially fatal explosions. Every year an estimated 2000 dust explosions occur in factories and refineries in Europe. There are approximately 50 reported dust explosions in the UK alone – that’s roughly one every single week. But these explosions are not solely the preserve of chemical or wood processing companies. A staggering 24 per cent of them occur within the food industry. In fact dry ingredients such as flour, custard powder, instant coffee, sugar, dried milk, potato powder, soup powder and cocoa powder have been responsible for 120 deaths in the past 30 years. All dust explos...

From SAFTENG the Safety Engineering Network, this blog post brings up some good questions.  This is one area of major concern, as several of the fires that caused massive amounts of damage in facilities that create or process combustible dust were started by contractors welding on a duct, dust collector or vessel, or near these areas where combustible dust had built up. Hot Work Safety - Hot Work Requirements and Combustible Dusts - Safety Engineering Network (SAFTENG) OSHA has clearly established that hotwork can not take place in the presence of combustible dusts. 1910.252(a)(2)(vi) Prohibited areas. Cutting or welding shall not be permitted in the following situations: 1910.252(a)(2)(vi)(A) In areas not authorized by management. 1910.252(a)(2)(vi)(B) In sprinklered buildings while such protection is impaired. 1910.252(a)(2)(vi)(C) In the presence of explosive atmospheres (mixtures of flammable gases, vapors, liquids, or dusts with air), or explosive atmospheres that ...

From Risk Factors blog and WestField Insurance, here is a good overview of the current state of the OSHA Combustible Dust Standard, with related links. February 16, 2011 Risk Factors: Combustible Dust Standards Update Background/History Combustible dust has become a much more visible hazard in the past few years as the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) in 2008 communicated that they were proposing a new standard on combustible dust . They also set in play a new directive for their staff to step up their inspections of plants that produce combustible dust, and began forcing companies to control the risk of explosion/fire (and related health concerns) through the execution of the general duty clause using best practice industry consensus standards (mostly National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards). The concern was that in the past couple decades, multiple industries experienced dust explosions that resulted in the loss of life/injuries and m...

In The News: Interactive Combustible Dust Guide Now Available The Dust Task Force of the Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America (WMMA) recently released the "WMMA NFPA 664 Interactive ComDust Guide" to help simplify the requirements set out by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). "NFPA has issued several standards and it can be quite difficult to get a good overview of these standards," according to a release issued by WMMA. "It is important for the user to understand that in each case the user must consult the applicable standard to assure the particular facility/process being assessed complies with the correct standard." Read More. NFPA664requirements.pdf

This story from Bill Esler at woodworkingnetwork.com, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Prof. George Huber provides a simplified explanation of wood saw dust to fuel conversion using "rapid catalytic pyrolysis technology technology" in the lab. Converting wood saw dust to gasoline Anellotech licensed "rapid catalytic pyrolysis technology" from University of Massachusetts Amherst that could make competitive fuels with petroleum-based counterparts like gasoline even at $35 per barrel of oil, less than half the current price. Read more about saw dust to fuel conversion

 From Safety Online. OSHA 10 Hour Safety Training-Now You Can Cut Your Risk Of OSHA OSHA compliance management can be a very tough act.However,there are still some industries that consistently manage to have fewer violations.Now you can achieve this with the help of the OSHA Safety Training Courses. Many companies have been penalized for not being able to comply with the safety and health standards, rules and regulations set up by OSHA. Now you can cut those risks with OSHA 10 Hour safety Training Courses. Present below is a glimpse into how these companies and industries really excel at OSHA safety compliance. This list mainly highlights the common denominators that organizations with the fewest health and safety violations have: Hazard correction and elimination: Another important point that's equally significant after locating and assessing hazards is that successful organizations fix them in a timely, systematic and orderly fashion. Although the primary purpos...