Georgia Leads in Preventing Combustible Dust Incidents

Georgia is now leading the nation in preventing future combustible dust incidents with a proactive program that requires all new and existing facilities that have operations involving the manufacturing, processing, and/or handling combustible particulate solids including manufacturing processes that create combustible dust to register with the state by July 1, 2008.

In addition to requiring facilities to register the Rules and Regulations for Loss Prevention Due to Combustible Dust Explosions and Fire were adopted by the state on March 7, 2008. These proactive measures provide a high level of safety awareness that will prevent and mitigate the occurrence of future combustible dust explosions and fires.

Georgia has adopted the International Fire Code, which makes reference to the numerous National Fire Protection Association combustible dust codes. Such as NFPA 654 Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing, and Handling of Combustible Particulate Solids, which is available for free viewing and purchase on the NFPA website.

Georgia Fire Safety Symposium
While taking the lead, the Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, led by Commissioner John Oxendine has organized an educational program with the help of his professional staff, which is open to the public at the Georgia Fire Safety Symposium to be held at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth, Georgia on July 14-18 2008. Several educational tracks will cover engineering/building inspections, hazardous materials inspections, and fire safety education for fire professionals who work daily in the fire protection filed. The Symposium is the 37th annual event and is part of the Fire Education program that the state provides in accordance with the mandate of Official Code of Georgia Annotated Title 25, Chapter 2.

Combustible Dust Training
A special aspect of the Symposium will be two days of training concerning NFPA Standards on Dust Explosions on Hazards. Guy Colona, NFPA Vice President of Chemical Engineering and Amy Spencer NFPA Senior Chemical Engineer will be providing the presentations. Topics will include dust hazard characterization, background on lessons learned from previous combustible dust incidents, hazard recognition, hazard assessment, and explosion hazard management.

Participants attending the two days of combustible dust training in the 500 seat auditorium will gain an understanding of the numerous NFPA combustible dust codes that are referenced in the International Fire Code, which cover metals, agricultural and food products, wood, explosion venting, and explosion prevention systems.

Conclusion
The most unique aspect of the Symposium is that it is open to the public. So now all stakeholders who work, manage, or own manufacturing facilities that generate combustible dust from combustible particulate solids will have chance to gain an understanding of the complex subject concerning combustilbe dust. After June 20, 2008 tickets will cost $125.00, a very reasonable fee considering the scope and depth of the content.

Other states can now learn from Georgia's proactive example in also instituting measures in preventing and mitigating future combustible dust incidents in addition to providing combustible dust training to stakeholders in their region.

Resources:
2008 Brochure and Registration Forms
2008 Fire Safety Symposium Registration Form

Combustible Dust Characterization

Will it burn? Here is an excellent view of a combustible dust magnified over 1500X with the aid of a scanning electron microscope (SEM), the pictomicrograph provided by Phenom is 125 microns in height. So how many microns does a dust particle have to be in order to be considered a combustible dust? Electron microscopy can be quite useful in characterizing combustible particulate solids and the combustible dusts that are generated in the manufacturing process.

Theres many particles that will not pass through a 40 Mesh U.S Standard Testing sieve and would be inappropriately characterized as non-combustible. Such particles could be agglomerates that can be formed by triboelectric attraction or hydrogen bonding of hydrophillic particles . Does your manufacturing process generate agglomerates such as flocks in the manufacturing process?

In December 1995, the Malden Mills combustible dust explosion and fire destroyed the facility and injured 37. The Chemical Safety Board determined that static electricity ignited nylon flock fibers. What is the resistivity and minimum ignition energy (MIE) of the dust generated at your facility?

Can anyone guess what combustible dust is in the picture.? Just name it in the comments section and I'll let you know if you are correct. The winner will receive a free combustible dust report with the specific names of all the NAICS subsectors listed in Appendix D of the recent OSHA Combustible Dust NEP.

'Photo Credit: Phenom

Information Scanning Electron Microscope