Elimination of Dust Fire Hazard at Paper Mills

• Wet dust collection system eliminates duct fire hazard at Scott tissue mill | Pulp & Paper | Find Articles at BNET - Annotated

  Excellent article published in Pulp & Paper Oct 2000 by Mark Williamson. The importance of addressing combustible dust related fires is highlighted here. Do you have spark detection and flame suppression as part of your dry dust collector system?

  tags: dust collector, spark, detection_flame, suppression, system Flamex, Grecon

  • DUST IS AN UNDESIRABLE BUT inevitable byproduct of tissue manufacture. It settles everywhere in the machine room. In high concentrations, airborne dust is an occupational health concern
    

    • Maybe it just might be a good idea to add national industries (NAICS) in the paper sector as a potential for combustible dust related fires and explosions. Currently the paper sector does not exists in the OSHA Dust NEP. What do you think? - post by comdust
      
      
  • Scott Paper Limited in Lennoxville, Quebec,
    • Kruger Products Limited, formerly Scott Paper Limited, is Canada's leading manufacturer and distributor of towel and tissue products for consumer, in-home, use and for commercial, away-from-home, use. - post by comdust
      
      
  • The No. 5 machine at the Lennoxville mill generates high levels of dust. There are also high levels of static electricity in the mill, so dust sticks to the walls and the equipment.
    • So there is a combustible dust hazard with paper dust. Hmm..maybe someone at OSHA should also read this for helpful reference, so as to add the sector to the Dust NEP. - post by comdust
      
      
  • Machine cleaning was scheduled two times per week and each cleaning needed 45 minutes to 1 hour of downtime.
    • Housekeeping appears to be very costly - post by comdust
      
      
  • To significantly reduce airborne dust, reduce dust buildup and the potential for fires, and to lessen dust carryover to the final product, the mill looked for alternative dust control systems.
    • Here it is , the potential for combustible dust related fires. Fires are the precursors for combustible dust explosions. Yet they are ignored and dust explosions get all the emphasis instead. Fire departments are repeatedly responding to combustible dust related fired on a regular weekly basis - post by comdust
      
      
  • To protect against the spread of fires in a dry system, special fire control equipment such as spark detection systems, sprinkler systems, and fire doors are commonly used.
    • Notice the importance of best engineering practices as outlined in the NFPA combustible dust standards such as spark detection and flame suppression systems,. Flamex and Grecon are excellent sources for these systems. - post by comdust

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Cogeneration Plant fire/dust explosion in Netherlands .

• In a cogeneration plant in the Netherlands a major fire/dust explosion broke out. - Annotated

  I'd like to thank Roger Bours Sales manager at Fike Europe in Antwerp Area, Belgium for sharing this news story with me so I can share with others in the ComDust network. It's extremely important in conducting risk analysis concerning ComDust hazards that an understanding of probability of occurrence throughout all industries is vital.
  
  Here is just one example where a situational proactive awareness will be helpful to all. To translate the entire article, I highly recommend the Google Toolbar, which has the translate function. In Dutch a dust explosion is referred to as a stofexplosie.

• tags: cogeneration plant, dust explosion, Netherlands, stofexplosie
  
  

  Translations from Dutch of Excerpts
  
  
  
  • DE LIER – In een warmtekrachtcentrale aan de Hofzichtlaan is vrijdagmiddag een grote brand uitgebroken.
    • In a cogeneration plant to the Hofzichtlaan Friday is a major fire broke out. - post by comdust
      
      
  • Oorzaak van de brand is een stofexplosie in een bunker met zaagsel, dat als brandstof voor de warmtekrachtcentrale wordt gebruikt. Persoonlijke ongelukken deden zich niet voor.
    • Translation from Dutch "Cause of the fire is a dust in a bunker with sawdust, as fuel for cogeneration is used. Personal accident did not occur." - post by comdust
      
      
  • Omdat er gevaar bestond van nog meer stofexplosies werden bedrijven en een aantal vrijstaande woningen in de omgeving ontruimd
    • Because there is danger of further explosions were substance and a number of detached dwellings in the area evacuated - post by comdust

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

General Duty Clause Explained -ComDust

http://oshaaboveground.blogspot.com/2009/06/general-duty-clause-citations.html

I highly recommend everyone to mosey on over to the OSHA Aboveground site and read Abel's excellent description of what a combustible dust General Duty Clause citation is all about. If you want to learn more about such citations then visit the OSHA IMIS database where you'll find a multitude of combustible dust General Duty Clause 5(a)(1) citations. You can learn quite a bit about best engineering practices through abatement measures that are found in the NFPA combustible dust standards with references to these in previous OSHA 5(a)(1) citations.

Have fun with your establishment, SIC, and General Duty Clause searches on the database :)

Someday Combustible Dust Monitor for Explosive Concentrations?

• The Basics of Gas Monitors (Part 2) - Online Safety Community

  It would be great if there was a monitor for minimum explosive concentrations (MEC) of combustible dust. Just like there is for LEL of gases and vapors. Which all have the potential for explosive atmospheres as recognized by ATEX in the EU Great post!I

  tags: explosive_atmosphere, LEL, minimum_explosive_concentration, MEC, explosion_monitor

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Economic Aspect OSHA ComDust Regulation Another Issue

• U.S. letting manufacturing slip away | detnews.com | The Detroit News

  Great article. The economic aspect of future governmental regulations concerning manufacturing needs to be addressed in the OSHA ComDust rulemaking.

  tags: manufacturing, OSHA, combustible_dust_rulemaking

  • Countries -- China, India, Russia, Brazil -- are no different. They understand the value of making things and selling them to others, the contribution competitive manufacturing makes to stability, economic growth and innovation.
  • But she was short -- indeed, silent in her opening remarks -- on tax, regulatory and other government-assessed burdens weighing on business, partly explaining why the Big Mitten has lost so many of the jobs she rightly lamented.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Remodeling/Hot Work Adjacent to Combustible Dust Hazard

Remodeling work continues to present ignition hazards adjacent to combustible dust hazards. The news report does not mention whether the injured worked was a contractor or not. Would flame resistant clothing (FRC'S) minimized the burn injuries?

• Man Burned in Chemical Dust Fire - Updated

  "He was using a cutting torch to remove some metal, some spark then ignited some old paint dust on the floor and it rapidly spread throughout the interior of the paint booth,"says Corporal Mark Chamberlain, Webster County Sheriff's Office.

  tags: dust_explosion, remodeling

  • remodeling/hot work combustible dust hazards - post by comdust

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.