Dust Explosions

Preventable dust explosions continue to occur in industry in spite of significant research and practice efforts worldwide over many years. There is a need for effective understanding of the unique hazards posed by combustible dust. This book describes a number of dust explosion myths – which together cover the main source of dust explosion hazards – the reasons they exist and the corresponding scientific and engineering facts that mitigate these circumstances. An Introduction to Dust Explosions describes the main erroneous beliefs about the origin and propagation of dust explosions. It offers fact-based explanations for their occurrence and the impact of such events and provides a critical guide to managing and mitigating dust explosion risks. Designed to prevent accidents, injury, loss of life and capital damage An easy-to-read, scientifically rigorous treatment of the facts and fictions of dust explosions for those who need to – or ought to – understand dust explosions, their occurrence and consequences Enables the management and mitigation of these critical industrial hazards

Unfortunately, dust explosions are common and costly in a wide array of industries such as petrochemical, food, paper and pharmaceutical. It is imperative that practical and theoretical knowledge of the origin, development, prevention and mitigation of dust explosions is imparted to the responsible safety manager. The material in this book offers an up to date evaluation of prevalent activities, testing methods, design measures and safe operating techniques. Also provided is a detailed and comprehensive critique of all the significant phases relating to the hazard and control of a dust explosion. An invaluable reference work for industry, safety consultants and students. A completely new chapter on design of electrical equipment to be used in areas containing combustible/explosible dust A substantially extended and re-organized final review chapter, containing nearly 400 new literature references from the years 1997-2002 Extensive cross-referencing from the original chapters 1-7 to the corresponding sections of the expanded review chapter

The interest of the media in dust explosions increased considerably following two major grain-elevator disasters in the United States in 1979. However, these were not isolated incidents and were statistically unusual only in the high loss of life involved. Any oxidizable material that is dispersed in fine powder form may be explosive, and ignition sources with sufficient energy to ignite a dust cloud are easily produced in normal industrial processing. Dust fires and minor incidents are not uncommon in many industries, but fortunately the combination of events and circumstances that must coincide for a large-scale explosion arise only rarely. Nevertheless, this is often more by luck than by good management and many potentially hazardous situations are common in industry. An explosive dust cloud and the circumstances in which it can ignite are not as simple to define as the equivalent situation in gases or flammable vapors. A large number of definitions and experimental tests have been devised to characterize the explosibility of dusts and ignition sources. The aim of this book is to provide a guide describing conditions in industry that could lead to dust explosions and the means to avoid them. Ignition sources and the way in which they can arise in powder processing are discussed and illustrated by case histories of reported incidents. The methods by which the potential hazards of a process or product can be evaluated are described, with special attention paid to the interpretation of the results of the different experimental methods.

Process safety is a disciplined framework for managing the integrity of operating systems and processes handling hazardous substances. Continued occurrence of major losses have had a significant impact on the industry's approaches to modern process safety. Consequently, the process safety management is now globally recognized as the primary approach for establishing the level of safety in operations required to manage high-hazard processes. With this in mind, and also due to the evolution in regulatory thinking that integrated traditional occupational safety with process safety, several process safety methods were developed by industry associations around the world. Although all these methods share the same basic objectives, the number of program elements may vary depending on the criteria used. Consequently, selecting the best method to chemical process safety could be challenging due to the existence of different options. I decided to write this project to address this challenge by provide an overview of the most important recent advancements and contributions in chemical process safety. The project helps researchers and professionals to obtain guidance on the selection and practice of chemical process safety methods. The main features of this volume are: To acquaint the reader/researcher with the fundamentals of the process safety To provide most recent advancements and contributions in the given topic from practical point of view To provide readers views/opinions of the expert in each topic To provide guidance on the practice of the given topic The selection of the author(s) of each chapter from among the leading researchers and/or practitioners for each given topic

Handbook of Powder Technology, Volume 4: Dust Explosions presents the dust explosion problem in general terms and describes how and why dusts explode. This book discusses the various approaches used to deal with the dust explosion hazards. Organized into five chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the methods used to assess, remove, or minimize the hazard of dust explosions. This text then examines the factors that influence the initiation and severity of an explosion. Other chapters consider the explosion prevention and explosion protection techniques. This book discusses as well the characteristics of a dust explosion and the historical development of the problem. The final chapter deals with the significant concept of explosion protection to reduce the worst effects of an explosion to an acceptable level. This book is a valuable resource for managers, engineers, scientists, safety personnel, and others involved in the handling ad processing of materials in solid particulate form.

The author summarizes todays knowledge of the cause and consequences of dust explosions which were the main focus of his professional life. The presence of explosible dust/air mixtures does not generally represent a risk of an explosion although all organic and metallic dusts are explosible. The author develops test-methods for explosion hazards associated with dust and constructive methods to prevent dust explosions. The book is written for practical use. The reader learns to recognise the hazard of a dust explosion and the effectiveness of safety measures. The book is richly illustrated and demonstrates the correct use of the empirical theories.