Combine Harvester Combustible Dust Fires

Informative article on the results of a research study on combustible dust related fires occurring in combine harvesters in the agricultural sector. The harvester diesel engine creates high temperatures resulting in very hot surfaces that can easily ignite the build-up of combustible dust that has low minimum ignition temperatures (MIT).
Stock & Land/Fairfax Media

The entire manufacturing sector can learn from this study as the process situations (ignition sources) of hot surfaces and static electricity can ignite combustible dust at facilities just like that do on a combine harvester. Good housekeeping is essential in minimizing the probability of occurrence in either case.

 

Posted via email from ComDust

OSHA Combustible Dust Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BwXCwzOQ_F0wYTc1YmJmZTMtN2FhNC00YzNlLTk2NTgtOWQyNjJhNGQ1YjFh&hl=en

Here is link to the OSHA ANPRM (15 pages) on combustible dust that was published in the Federal Register today. There are some excellent points on accident investigation and fire-fighter hazard awareness, which seeks public comment in addition to many other important issues.

Spark Detection Systems-Podcast #4

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Allen Wagoner, V.P. at Flamex and Bob Barnum, V.P Sales at GreCon Inc., discuss important aspects of spark detection engineering controls in lessening the probability and reducing the severity of combustible dust related fires and explosions at facilities.

Over the past year the Combustible Dust Policy Institute has found through media accounts over 130+ combustible dust related fires and explosions. Many of these incidents could have been prevented and mitigated with proper engineering controls as referenced in the NFPA Combustible Dust Standards. Concerning fire and explosion protection for process equipment, NFPA 654 lists several protection methods such as:

• Oxidant Concentration Reduction
• Deflagration venting
• Deflagration pressure containment
• Deflagration suppression
• Dilution with non-combustible dust
• Deflagration venting through a dust retention and flame-arresting device

In today’s podcast, we’ll discuss fire and explosion protection methods utilizing spark detection and extinguishment. Spark detection systems are used in dust collectors and pneumatic conveying systems to detect and extinguish sparks and embers.

Click Picture for Animation

Photo Credit: GreCon
The applications listed above are for example only. Qualified personnel must design suitable pneumatic conveying, electrical, and plumbing systems to local regulations, plant equipment and requirements. The drawings shown below may not meet the needs all facilities, but these drawings demonstrate how spark detection systems can be used in similar applications with the appropriate design

Resources

NFPA 654 Combustible Dust Standard
Flame Detection Tutorial-Sense Ware
Infrared Radiation

State OSHA Plans Absent

After seven months collecting data of over 90+ combustible dust related explosions and fires from media accounts, the questions arises if any trends are developing throughout the nation in the manufacturing sector? The most glaring trend is State OSHA participation of combustible dust inspections and enforcement is minimal.

Explosions are happening in nearly 20% of incidents and repeatable incidents over 30% . The dust collector is involved in over 40% of events, either from a spark traveling downstream through the duct work or ignition originating locally in the air material separator.

General Duty Clause
Reviewing over 4,500 OSHA inspection reports on the IMIS Database that CSHO's have completed in the last twelve months and comparing with all the NAICS in Appendix D-1/D-2 of the OSHA Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program (NEP) Directive, resulted in 24 combustible dust General Duty Clause citations.

None of the GDC combustible dust citations occurred in a locale with a State OSHA Plan. According to the OSHA Combustible Dust NEP, it's strictly voluntary for these states to conduct targeted NAICS inspections and enforcement for combustible dust violations as outlined in the NEP. This presents a huge problem and a distorted picture of actions concerning federal OSHA offices in conjunction with the overall Combustible Dust NEP program.

North Carolina leads the OSHA State Plans in conducting inspections with an emphasis on combustible dust at manufacturing facilities throughout the state. In contrast, CHSO's from Pennsylvania federal OSHA offices lead the nation issuing General Duty Clause citations for combustible dust.

Prior Dust Inspections
Additionally, the media and congressional leaders have absorbed the political spin of an independent governmental investigative agency that submitted recommendations to OSHA in 2006. An emotional knee jerk reaction to the recent Imperial Sugar Refinery dust explosion and prior catastrophic dust explosions in 2003 in conjunction with the CSB recommendations resulted in drafting a combustible dust bill that now awaits a vote in the Senate.

After several congressional hearings on combustible dust, the word out on the street is that OSHA is not doing it's job in enforcement and inspection activities concerning combustible dust. How can this be, especially when Federal OSHA offices have been citing facilities on combustible dust violations for many years prior to the Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion?

Two OSHA's
In contrast, according to media accounts, over 50% of combustible dust explosions in the last seven months have occurred in states with State OSHA Plans, where an organized proactive Combustible Dust NEP is absent. Basically, there are two different and totally separate OSHA's nationwide, which is divided amongst Federal and State offices. Collecting data of recent combustible dust incidents reinforces the fact of two separate OSHA entities.

Collective Cooperation
A comprehensive combustible dust regulation will not solve the problem of preventable combustible dust related explosions and fires. It's only through the combined efforts of State and Federal OSHA offices in conjunction with local fire inspectors where the complex combustible dust issue can be addressed properly.

OSHA does not have the personnel and financial resources to inspect more than 10% of manufacturing facilities in the nation. What about the other 90% ? Cooperation with state and local Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) is the direction all stakeholders should be championing in developing a proactive comprehensive combustible dust plan. Not a comprehensive combustible dust regulation with the absent financial backing.

Costly Dust Testing
Incident data illustrating State OSHA Plan inactivity does not truly represent the entire situation. For example, additional funding is needed for combustible dust testing in manufacturing facilities, which would enhance State OSHA inspection and enforcement activity. Laboratory testing at the OSHA Salt Lake Technical Center for ignition sensitivity and explosion severity is very expensive, costing thousands of dollars.

Why wasn't this crucial aspect of the combustible dust bill discussed during the several congressional hearings? Who is going to pay ? It all looks good on paper and makes one feel warm and fuzzy but the reality begins to sink in when viewing the data of what actually is occuring.

Google Map Web Links

State OSHA Plans

General Duty Clause Citations 9/07-9/08
Note: Viewers can overlay the above maps by saving in the Google "My Maps" tab.

5 Explosions Leading to Imperial Sugar Catastrophe

The Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion in February 2008 was not an isolated incident of dust explosions in manufacturing industries across the nation's heartland. In the three weeks prior to the Imperial Sugar catastrophe, starting with a quarter moon and ending with a new moon, five combustible dust explosions occurred on both sides of the Mississippi, in the states of Kentucky, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Virgina resulting in three injuries.

Incidents Continue
Over the last three months since the Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion, the Combustible Dust Policy Institute has recorded 40 additional combustible dust related fires and explosions resulting in injuries and adverse economic damage to local communities.

Millions of workers in over 100,000 manufacturing establishments that process combustible particulate solids are on borrowed time concerning when and where the next combustible dust incident will happen. At the current average rate of one incident every other day, over 100 combustible dust explosions and fires will occur in the remaining eight months of 2008.

Lessen the Odds
Since combustible dusts are an inherent aspect of the manufacturing process theres no absolute method of totally preventing future combustible dust fires and explosions. Bearings will overheat, electrical charges will overcome the dielectric strength of air, and upsets will occur.

To lessen the odds of an incident occurring, preventative administrative and technical measures must be pursued. Additionally, the destructive effects of a dust explosion or fire can be mitigated with explosion ventilation panels, spark detection and suppression systems, in addition to isolation valves. Short term costs for such equipment is initially high yet in the long term valuable assets will be protected from total destruction.

For instance, 40% of the dust explosions that occurred in the three weeks prior to the Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion, had protective and mitigative equipment installed, which lessened the damaging effects of the dust explosion. Additionally, no injuries, fatalities or adverse economic impact occurred in these incidents.

Hazard Assessment
Today is not to late to throughly check all overhead surfaces in the facility for an accumulation of dust. Suspended ceilings that have not been sealed properly can be a deadly culprit in the accumulation of combustible dust, especially if an upset occurs in the plant. The aisles and passageways can be hospital clean. But what about overhead where cleaning and maintenance crews do not usually perform scheduled cleaning duties...sight unseen up above?

May is starting out fresh with no incidents occurring in the last 24 hours. Now the challenge is to get by the rest of the week without a damaging combustible dust fire or explosion occurring. If a facility hasn't done so yet, then now is the time for a hazard assessment of all working areas in the plant.

Are combustible dusts present? If so then find out what potential ignition sources are present. Just like the dust hidden above, hidden electrical charges accumulating and dissipating can be the precursor to combustible dust ignition. Is your process material of high resistivity? If so then now is the time for laboratory testing in determining the minimum ignition energy (MIE) of dusts that are present in the process line.

One Size Fits All?
This week, Congress in a House vote with much opposition, passed a general industry comprehensive combustible dust bill and the next step is a vote in the Senate. The White House with the backing of the Chamber of Commerce has publicly stated their opposition to as they call it, "one size fits all" bill and says President Bush will veto the legislation. How can it be said that this is a "one size fits all"? Especially immediately after the Imperial Sugar incident, 40 combustible dust explosions and fires have occurred in the wood, food, metal, plastic, rubber, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries.

The Combustible Dust Bill is preceding next to the Senate for vote and will insure all manufacturing industries institute preventative and mitigative measures in preventing the devastating effects of predictable future combustible dust related fires and explosions.

Metal Combustible Dust Particle Size

Information in Material Safety Data Sheets concerning fire hazards of most combustible particulate solids and the combustible dusts generated in the manufacturing process is absent in most instances. The definition of a combustible dust as defined by NFPA 654 is:

"Any finely divided solid material that is 420 microns or smaller in diameter (material passing a U.S. No. 40 Standard Sieve) and presents a fire or explosion hazard when dispersed and ignited in air." The same definition is used for combustible metal dust in NFPA 484, Standard for Combustible Metals, Metal Powders, and Metal Dusts.

Additionally, OSHA's Safety and Health Information Bulletin (SHIB), "Combustible Dust in Industry: Preventing and Mitigating the Effects of Fire and Explosions," published in 2005 states:

"That one possible source for information on combustibility is the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the material. In some cases, additional information such as test results will be available from chemical manufacturers."

But thats were the problem arises, MSDS's, don't have the vital fire and safety information concerning combustible dust and laboratory testing is very costly. It's highly advised to have testing conducted as soon as possible . Until the facility management completes testing there is one alternative that the Combustible Dust Policy Institute has found most helpful concerning metal combustible dusts in the fabricated metal product manufacturing industries when determining if finely divided solid material is 420 microns or smaller in diameter .

For example, Atlantic Equipment Engineers has provided on their website a metal product technical data reference for over 120 metal powders and compounds. While browsing the numerous metal powders its quite easy in determining the product size of many many powders used in industry. Any US Sieve Series and Tyler Mesh Size higher than 40 would rank the powder as a combustible dust .

For a helpful review of micron powder particle size in relation to mesh size, here is a helpful link:
ESPICorp Inc.

Hope that helps in clarifying particle size in determining if your metal dust is a combustible dust or not. Until then, as soon as possible schedule a testing of your process dust for ignition sensitivity and explosion severity.

Resources:
NFPA 484, Standard for Combustible Metals, Metal Powders, and Metal Dusts

Dozens Combustible Dust Fatalities and Injuries Unaccounted

As H.R. 5522, the Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act bill moves to the House floor shortly, dozens of fatalities and injuries are unaccounted for. Legislators, governmental agencies, and industry trade associations only have a partial picture of the magnitude of the threat posed to the workplace by the hidden dangers of combustible dusts.

Over the past decade 14 documented fatalities and 47 injuries have occurred in two dozen combustible dust explosions and fires that were not included in the official 2006 Chemical Safety Board Combustible Dust Study. Many of the incidents were not cleared for public release due to pending court cases. With the passage of time this information now becomes available to the public through governmental databases.

Chemical Safety Board

The Chemical Safety Board has provided the public with an excellent service considering their limited annual budget of less than $10 million dollars. Most of the workplace accidents consisting of fires and explosions go uninvestigated by the CSB due to limited resources. Innovation combined with computer technology the agency provides helpful feedback to the workplace on root causes of accidents so they don’t occur again. Most helpful to the process industries are the DVD’s that are offered free of charge which are excellent safety training tools for veterans and newcomers to the industry.

As a federal independent investigative agency, the CSB is limited in breath and depth while conducting research on past incidents. Especially troublesome is the absence of central database with records of workplace accidents consisting of fires and explosions. Concerning the Combustible Dust Hazard Study, the CSB did not represent the data as complete or error-free. Especially since the combustible dust incidents were only a small sampling.

Recent Studies

Over the past two months, the Combustible Dust Policy Institute has completed cursory research on combustible dust explosions and fires and picked up were the CSB combustible dust studies ended. Over that past ten weeks since the Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion there have been over 30 combustible dusts related fires and explosions.

Hundreds of Incidents

Currently, many stakeholders both opponents and proponents of the proposed Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act, H.R. 5522, are under the assumption that there has been approximately 350 combustible dust fires and explosions since 1980. This is a very small sampling and a closer number would be approximately 3500 combustible dust explosions and fires over the last 28 years.

Either the earth, moon, sun, and planets were aligned in some unusual manner for the nearly three dozen combustible dust incidents to occur over the past ten weeks or now we have a better picture of the extent of the complex subject of combustible dust incidents occurring in the nation’s manufacturing process industries.

Resources

Chemical Safety Board

OSHA Integrated Management Information System database

Combustible Dust Training-May 5-8

Now that the word is getting out concerning the explosive atmospheres that are generated by combustible dusts in the workplace. It's time to obtain some training from professionals who work daily in the industry providing protection for all process industries.

The Process Technology for Industry International Expo (PTXi ) in Rosemont, Illinois on May 5-8 is the place to go. Also referred to as the International Powder & Bulk Solids show. The extravaganza has been joined by Pharma Process, Chem Process, and the Process Pack shows. So there will be plenty of venues to participate in across a wide spectrum of industry. Heres a quote from the website concerning the educational sessions:

The 2008 Process Technology Expo International Conference will provide leading educational sessions structured with extensive input from process industry experts to provide practical high-value information attendees can immediately apply to their job responsibilities.

Topics covered on combustible dusts at the PTXi conference daily educational sessions:

• Understanding and Controlling Dust Explosion Hazards

• Electrostatic Hazards Associated with Liquid and Powder Processing

• Risk Analysis for Dust Explosion Hazards

• Preventing Dust Explosions in Dust Collection Systems

• Guidelines on Compliance with New Federal Directive Relating to Explosion Prevention & Protection for Facilities Handling Combustible Dusts

• Flame Arresting Devices for Dust Explosions

• Raising the Bar: Dust Control Systems which Pay for Themselves with Verifiable Gains in Process Stability, Yield, Uptime, Environmental Safety & Operator Satisfaction

• Dust Control System Troubleshooting

Thats 15 hours of intensive training spread out over three full days,with some time in between the morning and afternoon sessions to view the exhibits in the Donald Stevens Convention Center. This training sessions will get you to speed so you don't end up on the Google Map of the next preventable and predictable combustible dust explosion or fire.

Conference registration includes:

• Lunch on registered day(s)
• A set of PTXi proceedings for registered day(s)
• Canvas tote bag
• Coffee and refreshments during the session breaks
• Complimentary admission to the expo

Conference Fees
	20% discount rates (Exhibitor, Govt, Student)	Early bird discounted rates	Standard on site rates (after April 11)
1 day	$315	$395	$495
Full Conference	$635	$795	$895

Link to PTXi Conference

H.R. 5522,Combustible Dust Bill Moves to House Floor

This morning at the mark-up of "H.R. 5522, Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008", the Full Committee of the House Education and Labor voted and agreed that this important bill should move forward onto the House floor. Over the past eight weeks, since the catastrophic Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion there has been 31 combustible dust related explosions and fires, which included six dust explosions in March. In April alone, there's been five combustible dust fires at flooring, paper, dental, and food manufacturing facilities. Luckily no fatalities or injuries in these April incidents. Luck only goes so far at the roulette wheel..

Georgia Combustible Dust Fire Ends Shift Work

Over the weekend at Quality Carpet Cushion on the northern outskirts of Lafayette, Georgia as the evening crew were beginning their shift, a combustible dust related fire flared up adjacent to machinery that chops and shreds recycled foam in the manufacture of bonded polyurethane carpet padding. Dozens of firefighters from surrounding communities responded to the four alarm fire and finally where able to quench the billowing inferno 20 hours later the following day according to news reports.

Company officials have yet to comment concerning the incident, yet the entire shell-shocked town of Lafayette is still trying to recover from the dismal Sunday where approximately 100 workers in the community depend on the plant for their livelihood. Luckily there were no injuries only an overwhelming negative economic impact on a small town community that is already feeling the ripples of a nationwide housing slump and no hope for the future since the facility was gutted out with fire and water damage.

Combustible dusts are generated from the grinding process of the combustible particulate solids of polyurethane which has a minimum ignition temperature close to the heat of a recently extinguished wooden matchstick . Inattentive housekeeping is a leading factor in combustible dust fires and explosions such as the tragic event that claimed 13 lives and over 50 injuries in Port Wentworth, Georgia nearly two months at the Imperial Sugar Refinery. Remove the fuel from the fire triangle and the possibility of a fire is also removed.

Removing the fuel factor is easier said than done. Especially when the workspace also becomes part of the manufacturing process; compounded with a process that grinds over 4 million pounds of combustible particulate solids (polyurethane) a month in suppling consumer demand for bonded carpet padding . With over two dozen nationwide facilities similar to Quality Carpet Cushion in the manufacturing of bonded polyurethane carpet padding, industry trade associations such as the Carpet Cushion Council and Alliance for the Polyurethanes Industry need to convene as a collaborative group to reevaluate the manufacturing process in the prevention and mitigation of future combustible dust incidents.

As it stands now everyone is on borrowed time, as LaFayette Public Safety Director Tommy Freeman succinctly stated:

In any manufacturing plant they have a buildup of dust and soot that floats around in the air and settles everywhere. Over time this accumulates. A simple fire under these circumstances can cause a flash-burn or -fire, because that dust is extremely flammable.........“The plant has had other fires in the past but were small and in different proximity,” Freeman said. He said all manufacturing plants have fires from time to time." Source: Walker County Messenger/Larry Brooks

In the meantime there won't be any shift work at the Quality Carpet Cushion for awhile.

Shift work, hard work, tired body
Blue-collar shirt and a baseball cap
Union made

He's hot, sweat drops, 'round the clock
Door never locks
And the noise never stops

Night or day
Work seven to three
Three to eleven
Eleven to seven

Shiftwork Lyrics by Kenny Chesney :

Resource: News Channel 9 Video

OSHA’s Scorched Earth Campaign-Combustible Dusts

Last time Americans heard of a scorched earth campaign was nearly a century and a half ago toward the end of the Civil War when Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman conducted his “Savannah Campaign’ and “March to the Sea” from Atlanta to the port of Savannah. In his wake, he burned everything to the ground except courthouses, churches, and dwellings. In the background of the procession, military bands played on, while his troops sang the chilling words “John Brown's soul goes marching on!"

Conflicting Campaigns

Fast forward into the twentieth-first century and another more productive campaign is happening across the nation’s heartland to the tune of a different song and that is the prevention of future preventable and predictable combustible dust related explosions and fires. At the forefront of this complex issue is OSHA’s conflicting scorched earth campaign in staunchly opposing labor’s desire in a comprehensive combustible dust standard in its health and safety regulations. In the meantime the nation’s economic industrial infrastructure is burning to the ground due to the alarming prevalence of combustible dust explosions and fires.

In the same southern maritime port of the Savannah River where General Sherman ended his “March to the Sea,” the United States suffered a horrific loss of lives and property with the explosion of the Georgia’s Imperial Sugar Refinery caused by combustible sugar dust. Fifteen months prior to the explosion, the Chemical Safety Board, an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents to protect workers, the public, and the environment, made recommendations concerning the implementation of OSHA combustible dust standard, which OSHA failed to act on.

Scorched Infrastructure

So now the nation’s workforce is living under an OSHA ‘scorched earth” policy. Haunting recurrences of combustible dust explosion occurred yesterday in Dudley, North Carolina where a Georgia-Pacific wood processing plant experienced over $ 20,000 of damages when four of its dust collectors exploded causing a small fire in the main structure. Luckily there were no injuries.

Yet unfortunately several years earlier, 35 miles up the road on January 19, 2003 the West Pharmaceutical Services plant in Kinston, North Carolina was not so lucky when it was scorched to the earth from a preventable combustible dust explosion, resulting in 6 fatalities and 38 injuries. Luck can only go so far with combustible dusts where many substances of wood, metal, plastic, food, coal, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals have minimum ignitions energies (MIE) less than gunpowder at the millijoule level.

One Size Fits All

And that’s where the problem lays, OSHA’s position that a “one size fits all” combustible dust health and safety standard will not work due to the diversity of raw materials involved in the manufacturing process. The public should not be mislead by this position regarding a very complex subject of dust cloud formation and ignition processes in addition to flame propagation and blast waves generated by burning dust clouds.

OSHA’s upper management, in which Edwin Foulke is the leader, is still under the false assumption that combustible dusts ignite due to diverse flash points. This could be further from the truth. For example, there is no such thing as flash points like in flammable liquids and vapors when regulating combustible dusts. Instead the physical and fire properties include minimum ignition temperature (MIT), minimum explosive concentration (MEC), minimum ignition energy (MIE), and deflagration indexes (Kst)

Combustible Dust Properties

Most combustible dusts have a minimum ignition temperature (MIT) of less than 932 degree Fahrenheit (500 C), which is the temperature of a match that has been immediately extinguished. Regarding deflagration indexes (Kst) or explosive properties, which is the amount of pressure rising over a period of time there are four classes: no explosion, weak, strong and very strong. Sugar dust as in the Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion has a weak Kst index as does the polyethylene plastic dust that was involved in the West Pharmaceutical dust explosion.

The subject of combustible dusts is a fascinating science wrought with new terms unfamiliar to most people in contrast to flammable liquids and vapors which are regulated in accordance with their flash points and hazardous classes. Combustible dusts can be understood at the same level if the analogy is used between flash points in vapors generated from flammable liquids in comparison to minimum ignition temperatures for combustible dusts generated from combustible particulate solids.

National Emphasis Program
OSHA’s “scorched earth” policy in regards to combustible dust is intensified when misleading proclamations are made in leading global and national publications such as the USA Today Op/Ed column where OSHA Director Edwin Foulke states “last fall OSHA initiated a nationwide program to increase inspections in high-risk workplaces.” This could be further from the truth as there is no nationwide national emphasis program for combustible dusts.

For instance 26 states have approved state plans, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Virgin Islands plans cover public sector (State & local government) employment only. Which translates into fine print that State plan participation in the combustible dust national emphasis effort is strongly encouraged but is not required. Additionally, State response/notice of intent regarding this directive is required. So far none of the 23 states have an emphasis program for combustible dusts. In all fairness, Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, and Tennessee are in the process of adopting at state emphasis combustible dust program.

Reoccurring Dust Explosions

In the meantime over the last seven weeks since the catastrophic Imperial Sugar Refinery combustible dust explosion there have been over two dozen combustible dust related fires and explosions across the nation spanning from the Pacific to the Atlantic . These predictable and preventable events have ranged in a diverse set of industries and institutions such as food, wood, metal, textile, and rubber industries. In addition to an Xcel coal power plant in Minnesota and Sheboygan Falls High School in Wisconsin. Even General Tecumseh Sherman’s scorched earth policy “March to the Sea,” had not ranged this far in proportion in such a short amount of time.

It should not take an act of Congress like the proposed bill, “HR 5522, The Combustible Dust Fire and Explosion Prevention Act of 2008" that the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on March 12, 2008 to provide stimulus for OSHA to act. Instead sound and persuasive leadership is needed at the Department of Labor, where industry, labor, and governmental leaders can reach a comprehensive agreement in providing the health and safety protection that the country now desperately needs.

Global Alternative

An excellent alternative to the conflicting points of view between the stakeholders would be to review programs that our global trading and security partners have. For example, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the United Kingdom already have health and safety regulations concerning explosive atmospheres like combustible dusts.

The European Union has instituted ATEX 95 equipment directive 94/9/EC and ATEX 137 workplace directive 99/92/EC. The unusual ATEX acronym is derived from French: Appareils destinés à être utilisés en ATmosphères EXplosibles .The United Kingdom with guidance from ATEX 95, has implemented the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) which require employers to control the risks to safety from fire and explosions.

Additionally, down under, Australia and New Zealand and doing the same with a phase in program spread out over the years like the United States did for the 2002 Homeland Security Act. After a period of six years and billions of dollars government and industry are completing the last aspects of homeland security with the controversial Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). Instead of protecting from a threat on the outside with the Homeland Security Act., the OSH Act with a comprehensive combustible dust standard can protect from the scorched earth occurring within.

Photo Credit: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

North Carolina Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires

Spooner Explosion-Dust or Vapor?

The catastrophic Tuesday chemical plant explosion at the Cortec aerosol can filling facility in Spooner, Wisconsin is still a mystery to local, state, and federal investigators. Luckily, most of the workers were in the break room when the mysterious explosion destroyed the facility. Yet two injuries occurred with the burn victims still in the hospital.

Cortec is a global leader in corrosion protection technology with its proprietary vapor-phase corrosion inhibitors. VCIs are environmentally friendly organic chemicals that condense on metal surfaces, creating an invisible barrier to moisture. Products that are filled in aerosol cans include rust removers, rust preventers, biodegradable cleaners, and degreasers.

With hundreds of diverse corrosion protection products manufactured at their other facilities, Cortec provides corrosion protection products for over 70 countries in conjunction 500 local distributors. For instance, NASA uses the products’ on the space shuttle and the U.S. military has a multitude of uses for the products in the adverse conditions which it operates whether land, sea, or air.

Normally aerosol can filling can be a potentially dangerous operation in the manufacturing process. Yet Cortec has alleviated that hazardous aspect with its EcoAir aerosol can product which utilizes unique technology in the form of aerosol products that are powered by compressed air which is not flammable. So how did the facility explode if it doesn’t use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), dimethyl ether (DME), difluoroethane (DFE), or butane as a aerosol propellant?

That’s the mystery. Additionally, newspapers have stated through witness accounts, that no one can recall smelling any vapor such as a flammable gas leak. Furthermore, a business owner across the street heard a primary explosion then a larger secondary explosion followed by the huge fire.

Is it possible that the vapor corrosion inhibitor (VCI) in a dust form, prior to filling the aerosol cans, had accumulated over a period of time on overhead surfaces and ledges unbeknownst to plant management and the workers? That’s the big question even with the aisles and passageways spotless through conscientious housekeeping yet a hidden danger could be lurking above.

Metal Combustible Dust Fires Rage On

Combustible dust fires across the nation have been an ongoing trend over the past six weeks since the catastrophic Dixie Crystal Sugar Refinery explosion last month.

"MUSKEGON COUNTY — A fire that started early this morning at the Port City Industrial Finishing Inc. plant in Muskegon caused about $120,000 in damage, fire officials estimate."

In this incident lady luck held the high cards with no injuries nor fatalities at a facility that polished aluminum used for Harley-Davidson parts.

The last combustible dust incident occurred a week earlier at Custom Alloy Corporation in High Bridge, New Jersy when a fire ensued inside an enclosed dust collector in a metal-grinding room.

"Firefighters wearing protective breathing gear had to take apart the collector to extinguish burning metal particles inside. Smith said a small dust explosion occurred during the fire."

In that incident the small dust explosion occurred while fire teams were fighting the fire. Luckily, Fire Chief Jeffrey Smith's team of over 70 firefighters from the boroughs of Quakertown, Lebanon, Lebanon Township, Califon, Glen Gardner, Hampton, and High Bridge Rescue walked away unscathed.

The hazards of combustible particulate solids (CPS) and the combustible dusts that are generated in manufacturing processes can become deadly with the explosive power of gunpowder when suspended and in a confined space of the shop floor and exposed to an ignition source such as static electricity at the seemingly harmless millijoule level.

Tens of thousands of workers across the nation will arrive at work tomorrow morning with no idea of the dangers they are exposed to when handling metal, food, feed, grain, textile, paper, and other harmless bulk materials (combustible particulate solids) prior to initiating the manufacturing process. It's only when the materials in their raw form begin to be processed (combustible dust) that the dangers set in.

Thats when the dust begins to accumulate on the shop floor, ledges, hard to reach spots, and eventually suspension in the air. All that is missing for a combustible dust incident is ignition. In the right conditions with a worker walking across the shop floor, 10 millijoules of charge can be generated and touching the right spot 1000-2000 picofarads can jump across an ungrounded surface and hopefully lady luck is nearby.

Either way in some form or other, across all industries spread throughout the nation, approximately 15 of those workers will never make it to the time clock and eventually home alive to see there loved ones, lady luck won't be kind to them.

Google Map Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires

Combustible Dust Mill Fire 3/07/08

Another preventable combustible wood dust fire occurred in our nation's lumbering region in Pittsfield, Maine this morning at Hancock Lumber. Luckily no one was injured, only economic property damage and disruption to mill operations.

From the company's website, the business has a rich history which began operation in 1848 as a small logging operation in Casco, Maine. The first sawmill went into operation in the 1880s.

Today, Hancock Lumber operates three sawmills in Maine (Casco, Pittsfield and Bethel) and is the largest producer of Eastern White Pine in the United States. Hancock "Made in Maine" pine products are shipped nationwide.(1)

"...Crews from several towns used a ladder truck and other equipment to fight the fire, which appeared to be located in a system of pipes that moves byproducts of the milling process..."

Then Chemical Safety Board determined that lumber and wood product industries account for 15 percent of combustible dust incidents. Additionally, wood material accounted for the largest percentage of combustible dust incidents.

a planer striking a rock or piece of metal likely shot a spark into the wood shavings chute, a metal tube about 4 feet in diameter, while employees worked. A fan that draws the shavings up into the chute provided enough oxygen for the spark to ignite the shavings,

After the conclusion of a Combustible Dust Hazards study, the report was submitted to OSHA in 2006 with a half a dozen recommendations to prevent such incidents. The primary recommendation was to implement a comprehensive combustible dust standard which also incorporated National Fire Protection Association combustible dust codes. So far OSHA has failed to act.

On another front, combustible dust related explosions and fires occur with alarming regularity and the tragic Dixie Crystal refinery explosion is not an isolated incident . Already 12 such incidents have occurred in the United States since the sugar refinery explosion. An Act of Congress will soon bring protection to industry and the nation's workforce

Congressmen Miller and Barrow are on the right track in holding a House Education and Labor committee hearing on 12 March 2008 with the Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008, which they have recently drafted and are working on having the bill appear on the House Floor.

Pittsfield lumber mill hit by fire
Google Map of Combustible Dust Fires and Explosions

Down Under Combustible Dust Fire

It appears that combustible dust fires and explosions are not limited to the United States as this news release from Australia informs us here on the other side of the equator.

Fire crews are confident they have extinguished a fire in recycled milk powder at the Fonterra Milk processing plant at Darnum in West Gippsland. Fire investigators believed it was caused by spontaneous combustion in a four storey high hopper.



Example: 40 pounds of powdered milk meets up with his buddies at the fire triangle. Their partner, confinement, was not feeling well and decided to stay inside.

Since the Dixie Crystal sugar refinery explosion in Georgia last month, there has been quite a bit of dialog between a diverse group of stakeholders which includes government legislators, enforcement agencies, and labor unions concerning what preventive measures should be taken to prevent future incidents. So far there has been no word from business organizations concerning impending costly preventive legislation in preventing future catastrophic dust explosions.

Luckily in this incident the explosion prevention equipment was functioning properly and only a fire ensued. Back in February 1980, a powdered milk mill in Minneapolis, Minnesota was not so lucky when the mill was destroyed by an explosion when an employee lowered a drop cord into a bin of powdered milk to see if it was empty. A conveyor was running at the bottom of the bin. The drop cord got caught in the conveyor and caused the explosion. The explosion spread throughout the steel bins and the warehouse causing 1 fatality and 8 injuries.

Source:ABC Gippsland

Fire in a tower of milk powder