Industrial Dust Explosions

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.

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

Up-to-date and thorough coverage of the causes, repercussions, and prevention of dust explosions and fires by one of the most well-respected environmental scientists and worker safety litigation specialists in the world This handy volume is a ready “go to” reference for the chemical engineer, plant manager, process engineer, or chemist working in industrial settings where dust explosions could be a concern, such as the process industries, coal industry, metal industry, and others. Though dust explosions have been around since the Earth first formed, and they have been studied and written about since the 1500s, they are still an ongoing concern and occur almost daily somewhere in the world, from bakeries to fertilizer plants. Dust explosions can have devastating consequences, and, recently, there have been new industrial standards and guidelines that reflect safer, more reasonable methods for dealing with materials to prevent dust explosions and resultant fires. This book not only presents these new developments for engineers and managers, it offers in-depth coverage of the subject, starting with a complete overview of dust—how it forms, when it is in danger of exploding, and how this risk can be mitigated—as well as a general overview of explosions and the environments that foster them. Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Handbook covers individual industries, such as metal and coal; offers an appendix that outlines best practices for preventing dust explosions and fire and how these risks can be systematically mitigated by these implementations; and incorporates a handy glossary of terms for easy access, not only for the veteran engineer or chemist, but for the student or new hire. This ready reference is one of the most useful texts that an engineer or chemist could have at their side. With so many accidents still occurring in industry today, this must-have volume pinpoints the most common, sure-fire ways for engineers, scientists, and chemists working with these hazardous materials to go about their daily business safely, efficiently, and profitably, with no extraneous tables or theoretical treatises.

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