Materials that can cause Dust Explosions.

Generally dust explosions arise from the simple chemistry of combustion:

Fuel + Oxygen
Oxides + Heat
Sometimes metal dusts can also react exothermically with N2 or CO2 but this is
only in very special cases.
This means that only materials that are not stable oxides can be involved in dust
explosions. Therefore the following chemical compound types are unable to
produce dust explosions:
Silicates
Sulphates
Nitrates
Carbonates
Phosphates
Therefore there is no risk of dust explosions in industries such as cement
manufacture, sand quarrying, limestone excavation etc.
Materials that can cause dust explosions:
Natural Organic materials (grain, linen, sugar, etc)
Synthetic Organic Materials (plastics, organic pigments, pesticides, etc)
Coal and Peat
Metals (aluminium, zinc, iron, etc)
The severity of the resulting explosions is related to the heat released in the
combustion of these materials. The best way to look at this is by examining the
amount of heat released per mole of oxygen.
Substance

Oxidation Products KJ/mole O2

Ca

CaO

1270

Mg

MgO

1240

Al

Al2O3

1100

Si

SiO2

830

Cr

Cr2O3

750

Zn

ZnO

700

Fe

Fe2O3

530

Cu

CuO

300

Sucrose

CO2 and H2O

470

Starch

CO2 and H2O

470

Polyethylene CO2 and H2O

390

Carbon

CO2

400

Coal

CO2 and H2O

400

Sulphur

SO2

300

The higher the heat of combustion, the more likely it is to be able to sustain a
dust explosion. You can see from the above table, that metals are the most
dangerous dusts from a purely energetic viewpoint.
For ideal gases we can relate the heat release to the pressure increase quite
easily using this equation:
P = TnR / V
Where P is the gas pressure, T is the temperature, n is the number of moles
present, R is the universal gas constant (8.3145 Joules per mole Kelvin at STP)
and V is the gas volume. At constant volume the pressure is proportional to n and
T. Hence by finding the temperature rise from the combustion of the dust you can
estimate the pressure rise due to the explosion (assuming a constant volume).
The temperature change affects the pressure rise the most, as the number of
moles present is dependant on the chemistry of the reaction.
For example, if metal dusts are combusted all of the oxygen will be converted to
oxides reducing n as no gases are produced to replace the oxygen. However in a
combustion reaction with an organic dust (composed of carbon and hydrogen)
the volume increase will be large. For every oxygen molecule consumed two
molecules of water (as a gas) will be formed or one carbon dioxide molecule will
be formed. However this is assuming complete combustion of all the oxygen
rather than any generation of carbon monoxide or other products. Therefore the
most important factor in deciding whether a material can cause a dust explosion
is the heat of combustion.

Explosible Concentrations
Dust cloud explosions can only occur if the dust concentration is within certain
limits. This is analogous with the concept of upper and lower flammable limits of
mixtures of gas (or vapours) and air. In general the lowest concentration of dust
that can give a dust explosion is around 50-100g/m 3 and the maximum is 23kg/m3. These limits are dependent on the particular chemical in question and on
the particle size distribution; however they are included here to give an idea of
the orders of magnitude involved.
It is usually easy to see if a cloud is explosible, as visibility through a dust cloudeven at the lowest concentrations-is impaired. However these concentrations are
far below those recommended by industrial hygiene standards, therefore they
shouldn't occur in a working environment anyway.

As a general rule of thumb it is said that if a 25W bulb can be seen through 2m of
the dust cloud then the dust concentration is below 40g/m 3. A cloud of this
concentration is unlikely to be in the workplace, and should only be found in
process vessels.

Primary and Secondary Explosions

The concentrations needed for a dust explosion are rarely seen outside of
process vessels, hence most severe dust explosions start within a piece of
equipment (such as mills, mixers, screens, dryers, cyclones, hoppers, filters,
bucket elevators, silos, aspiration ducts, and pneumatic transit systems). These
are known as Primary Explosions. It is important to note that one of the main
differences between the dust explosion and flammable gas hazard is that
gas/vapour explosions rarely happen inside vessels due to a lack of air to
support explosions. However with dust it is generally suspended in air in process
equipment (unless the vessels are operated in pure nitrogen atmospheres, which
can still pose a problem with metal powders) which can allow dust explosion
conditions to occur. This can then cause the vessel to rupture if it has insufficent
pressure release devices/venting or if its design pressure is too low.

An important aspect of dust explosion avoidance is the limiting of the possibility

of primary explosions, however more important is to reduce the possibility of a
secondary explosion occurring.
Secondary explosions are caused (in this context) when lying dust is disturbed by
the primary explosion and forms a second dust cloud which then is ignited by the
heat released from the primary explosion. The problem is that small amounts of
lying dust occupy very little space, but once disturbed can easily form dangerous
clouds. A 1mm layer of dust of 500kg/m3 can give rise to a 5m deep cloud of
100g/m3 dust.
The equation:
c = bulk h / H
relates h, the dust layer thickness to H, the height of the produced cloud and to
bulk, the bulk concentration of the powder.
There can be large series of explosions triggered in this manner, leading to
devastating effects if there is a lot of lying dust that is disturbed. Hence the
amount of lying dust must be minimised to the best possible extent.

Ignition
A cloud of dust, within its flammable concentration limits, will not burn unless
sufficient energy is provided to ignite it. Possible ignition sources include:
Open flames (welding, cutting, matches, etc)
Hot surfaces (dryers, bearings, heaters, etc)
Heat from mechanical impacts
Electrical discharges
Electrostatic discharges
Smouldering or burning dust
A brief analysis of each of these ignition sources follows, techniques for avoiding
them are covered in the Prevention section of the site.

Open Flames
Flames from welding or cutting operations are easily sufficient to trigger a dust
explosion. Oxy-acetylene torches are particularly dangerous as they supply
oxygen to the area, and the more oxygen present, the less heat is required to
trigger an explosion. Therefore there should be no use of cutting or welding
torches on working dust processing units. Smoking should be prohibited
anywhere in the plant as a match flame generates 100W of heat energy, which is
more than sufficient to ignite a dust cloud.

Hot Surfaces
Hot surfaces can ignite dust explosions in two ways, the first by causing lying
dust to burn, and the second by direct contact with the dust cloud. The chances
of igniting a dust cloud are less as this requires a surface temperature of over
400C to supply enough heat for ignition.

Heat from Mechanical Impacts

Often referred to as friction sparks, mechanical impacts can cause ignition. This
is not to be confused with friction burning (i.e. where a belt slips and slowly
heats) which is much less likely to cause an ignition source. Friction sparks can
be particularly dangerous if they are between two metals (combinations of
aluminium and rust can cause thermite reactions) as these can provide enough
heat to start a dust explosion. These can often be caused by falling objects (such
as nuts or bolts) or by moving equipment contacting plant items.

Electric sparks
Sparks given off from faulty electrical equipment are sometimes the causes of
dust explosions, especially if a high voltage device fails, or a cable is severed. A
spark of anything over 1mJ can ignite a dust cloud, and this is easily produced if
a piece of plant equipment, such as a motor, fails.

Electrostatic Discharges
These kind of static sparks were long thought to be incapable of igniting a dust
cloud, although today they are known to have been the cause of dust explosions
where equipment has not been earthed properly. The static electricity build-up in
dust processing can be large as charge is transferred from particles to the
vessel. There are several different types of electrostatic discharges (Spark,
Brush, Corona, Propagating Brush, Surface, and Lightning-like discharge). The
most dangerous type are spark discharges, which occur when charge builds up

in conducting, unearthed items and is then discharged to earth across a small

gap as a spark.

A static discharge between an unearthed hopper and an earthed vessel

Smouldering or Burning dust

This can occur when dust deposited in heaps or layers, under certain conditions,
slowly internally combusts. Due to the low heat transfer through dust the
temperature in the heap will rise causing further burning as long as sufficient
oxygen is present. These become a dust explosion hazard if they are disturbed
so that they are able to ignite a cloud of dust. This can easily occur if a
smouldering nest (a pocket of slowly burning dust) is in something like a hopper
or silo, and is discharged from the base. However these combustions usually
require ignition themselves (from something such as discarded cigarette or
match).

Cloud Properties that affect the Dust Explosion

Hazard
There are a few main factors that influence the combustibility of a dust, many of
them are still not understood very well, and usually the only way to get data
concerning a specific dust is to do analytical tests on the substance. Most books
on dust explosions have data for the minimum explosive concentrations and
other properties of common powders. Discussed briefly here are the different
factors that affect the explosibility of a dust, this is not meant as a complete guide
but should point to main trends in behaviour.

Dust Chemistry and Moisture Content

If it isn't combustible there can't be an explosion. Dust chemistry is affected by
the elements that make up the molecule and their specific configuration in the
molecule. Dust chemistry is one of the really fundamental considerations when
investigating dust explosions. It directly influences the thermodynamics, how
much heat is released, and the kinetics, how fast heat is liberated, of the
reaction, which in turn directly affect the severity of the explosion. The heat of
combustion per mole of O2 used is a commonly available and useful number for
calculating the total heat release in a dust explosion.
Data is usually available in tables specifying these quantities, however short of
looking it up or actually performing experiments in a Hartmann Bomb, it is very
difficult to predict quantitatively (it is beyond the scope of this website, although
there are further details in R. Eckoff's "Dust Explosions in the Process
Industries") just how explosive a given dust will be.
Moisture content of a dust will affect the ability of a dust cloud to be ignited and
its ability to sustain an explosion. Increasing moisture content pushes the ignition
energy up exponentially with some dusts. The moisture works in several main
ways. The heating and evaporating the moisture provides an inert heat sink.
Once evaporated the water vapour mixes with pyrolysis gases and makes them
less reactive, and can also increase intermolecular cohesion of the dust meaning
a larger effective particle size.

Particle Size and Specific Surface area

No matter how combustible the powder, if it's in big lumps it isn't going to cause a
dust explosion. Although there is a clear dependence on size and surface area of
dust particles, it does not vary linearly with the explosibility of the powders. Often
the dust (i.e. coal dust) will become more and more explosive down to a certain
size limit at which it will plateau. The reason that surface area affects the violence
of explosion is that particle size/surface area influences the speed at which
volatiles are extracted from the particle (or how fast the particle vaporises) before
they burn. As long as this is the limiting factor in the combustion, reducing the
particle size will increase the severity of explosions. As soon as the speed of gas
phase mixing or actual combustion of volatiles is the limiting factor particle size
becomes irrelevant (although usually this is at sizes much less than 50 m). This
limit can also be different for high dust concentrations where the explosions are
more violent.

Dust Concentration
Dust cloud explosions can only occur if the dust concentration is within certain
limits. This is analogous with the concept of upper and lower flammable limits of
mixtures of gas (or vapours) and air. In general the lowest concentration of dust
that can give a dust explosion is around 50-100g/m3 and the maximum is 2-

3kg/m3. These limits are dependent on the particular chemical in question and
on the particle size distribution. The worst cases are usually when the dust
concentration is slightly above the stoichiometric concentration. Upper
concentration limits are dictated by the minimum amount of oxygen needed for
explosion, lower limits by the minimum quantity of particles needed to sustain a
combustion.

Turbulence
A more turbulent cloud will result in a more severe explosion as, due to the more
homogenous concentrations and lower degree of dispersion, the flame front will
move more quickly through the dust cloud. However a less turbulent cloud is
more easily ignited, as heat dissipation is at a lower rate so the initial heat
release is more locally concentrated, leading to a higher probability of ignition
from an input of energy.

Oxygen Content of Oxidising Gas

Less oxygen in the air causes the explosion to be much less severe as it limits
the rate of combustion of the dust, thus limiting the oxygen in process vessels
can minimise the possibility of a dust explosion (fire can only be sustained if
oxygen concentration is greater than 10% in air).

Degree of Dust Dispersion

Dispersion and degree of agglomeration affect the combustion as they change
the effective local dust concentrations and the effective particle size respectively.
A more evenly dispersed dust will burn more easily. The degree of dispersion is
usually dependant upon the way method of dust dispersion and the turbulence in
the system.

Initial Dust Cloud Temperature

At higher initial temperatures the dust cloud is more easily ignited and the
minimum dust concentration required for explosion is lowered. However the
maximum explosion pressure is lowered as the oxygen is of a lower
concentration per unit volume when the temperature is higher, so less
combustion can occur.

Initial Pressure of Dust Cloud

Increasing the pressure in a dust cloud makes the explosion more violent,
because essentially all of the combustibles are closer together. It also lowers the
required ignition energy.

Combustible Gas Mixed with Dust Cloud

Addition of a fuel gas (or vapour) can lower the ignition energy for a pure dust
cloud massively, and raise the maximum explosion pressure.

Avoiding Dust Explosions

The table below gives an overview of ways of preventing (stopping the dust
explosion from occurring) and mitigating (minimising the damage of a dust
explosion) dust explosions:
Prevention
Preventing Ignition
Sources

Mitigation

Preventing Explosible
Dust Clouds

Smouldering combustion
in dust

Inerting by N2, CO2 and rare

gases

Partial inerting by inert gas

Other Open Flames

Intrinsic Inerting

Isolation

Hot Surfaces

Inerting by adding inert dust

Venting

Electric/Electrostatic
Sparks

Dust concentration outside of

combustible range

Pressure Resistant
construction

Heat From Mechanical

Impact

Automatic Suppression
Good Housekeeping (cleaning
& dust removal)

Prevention falls into two categories, preventing ignition and preventing the
formation of a dust cloud. Mitigation can be achieved in several ways which
either stop the explosion or relieve the pressure it causes before it can do too
much damage.
]

Preventing Ignition Sources

For most processes where the minimum electrical spark ignition energy of the
working dust is considerably greater than 10mJ, elimination of ignition sources is
a satisfactory protection against dust explosions.
Ignition sources can be broken down into two groups. The first group consists of
those which are caused by general work in the plant:
Smoking
Open flames
Open light (bulbs)
Welding
Cutting
Grinding
These sources can be eliminated by sufficient staff training and enforcing
adequate working routines. The second group of ignition sources is made up of
ignition sources presented by the process itself:
Open flames
Hot surfaces
Self heating, Smouldering Nests and Exothermic decomposition
Heat from mechanical impacts
Exothermic decomposition of dust via mechanical impacts
Electric sparks and electrostatic discharges
These ignition conditions are presented in the actual process and hence need to
be solved in a multitude of ways.

Open Flames
Open flames are most easily avoided by rigorously enforcing a no smoking policy
within the process area. Hot work must not be carried out in an area unless it,
and any area that could be directly or indirectly affected, is entirely free from
dust. Gas cutting torches that use excess oxygen should be avoided as they can
cause ignition to be easier than it would be in air.

Hot Surfaces
Hot surfaces occur on items of process equipment that use heat, such as
heaters, dryers, steam pipes, electrical equipment, etc. They also occur in less
obvious process equipment too, such as engines, blowers, mechanical
conveyors, mills, mixers, bearings and unprotected light bulbs. Further hot
surfaces can be created during hot work which can provide enough heat for
ignition.
Dust lying on hot surfaces can be ignited, as can dust clouds, thus leading to
dust explosions. Lying dust on hot surfaces also acts as a layer of insulation
which can cause equipment failure.

Following these measures can help minimise the chance of ignition from hot
surfaces:
Removal of all dust before performing hot work
Prevent/Remove dust on hot surfaces
Shield or isolate hot surfaces
Only use electrical equipment approved for use in the presence of
combustible dust
Use equipment with low chance of overheating
Regular and thorough inspection and maintenance procedures

Self Heating and Smouldering of Dusts

Preponderance to self heating is usually determined by the chemical
characteristics of the dust, but there are several ways to minimise the chance of
it occurring:
Control dust temperature, moisture content etc. before putting into storage
Make sure no heated bodies are in contact with the stored dust
Monitor temperature of stored dust carefully
Monitor dust storage for combustion gases
Inerting of bulk material with a suitable inert gas (e.g. nitrogen)
Addition of water is not recommended as this can cause mechanical problems
with dust transport (it sticks together). Nitrogen inerting is the best way to avoid
smouldering fires, but does add the hazard of making the atmosphere
unbreathable. If a smouldering mass does occur the first thing to do is to stop
any exothermic reactions, then reduce the temperature of the rest of the dust, it
should also be checked for any toxic combustion products. Process equipment
must be checked thoroughly if a smouldering fire is generated as this can
weaken vessels significantly.

Mechanical Impacts
Mechanical impacts can produce either glowing sparks or hot spots where the
impact occurs. Usually these sparks are not sufficiently energetic to provide
ignition, but in the case of repeated impact or when exotic metals are used there
is a risk of igniting a dust cloud. To best avoid these sparks occurring it is
recommended that you:
Remove foreign objects from process streams as soon a possible
Avoid any construction materials that could give incendiary sparks or thermite
flashes
Inspect odd noises to see if they are caused by impacts, and if so remedy the
situation in a safe manner

Electrical/electrostatic sparks

Electrical sparks are best minimised by observing the regulations for electrical
equipment in dusty areas and ensuring that any installed electrical items comply.
Making sure that workers are aware of the electrical items and how to use them
safely is also wise.
Electrostatic sparks are less well understood and there are many ways to try to
minimise their formation. It has been recommended that:
Use conducting materials for plant items to avoid charge buildup
Earth any equipment that may become charged
Earth workers is the dust is easily ignitable
Earth coarse non-conducting powders via an earth rod through their storage
vessel
If in doubt, earth it.

Preventing Explosible Dust Clouds

There are three major ways to avoid creating an explosible dust cloud without
modifying the dust itself:
Add inert gas to the atmosphere
Ensure that the dust is outside of the combustible concentration limits
Add inert dust

Adding Inert Gas

Lowering the oxygen content in a process area/vessel can minimise the chance
of a dust explosion, the easiest way to achieve this is to add an inert gas to the
system. Possible choices include:
Nitrogen
Carbon Dioxide
Flue Gases
Water Vapour
Rare Gases
Halons were also previously used before their environmental impact was fully
recognised. Usually nitrogen or carbon dioxide are the best choices, however
these can be incompatible with some powders so it is advisable to use more
expensive, rare gases. To actually introduce a new atmosphere to a process it is
recommended that the system be slightly evacuated and then flushed with the
inert gas until the pressure returns to atmospheric. This should be repeated until
the desired atmosphere is generated. If a high pressure system is being used the
n the inert gas can be simply pumped into the process vessels until the desired
pressure is reached. Once the atmosphere is generated it is important to ensure
that no air leaks into the process and that if gas is introduced with powdered
feeds it is inerted too. Often partial inerting is used where total inerting would be
too costly; this does not entirely remove the chance of explosion, but limits it
massively.

Ensure that the dust is outside of explosible

concentrations
This is extremely difficult to do in practice and is not generally used as a
technique as the dust concentration in vessels is too unpredictable and very hard
to measure accurately. By avoiding entrainment of the dust all of the time, thus
making the concentration too high for explosion, this technique can be used. This
can be achieved through careful plant and equipment design, but is difficult if
very fine powders are involved. Also it should be noted that although this will help
to avoid primary explosions, secondary explosions could still easily occur if the
lying dust is sufficiently agitated leading to entrainment.

Add Inerting Dust

This method of avoiding forming explosive dust clouds is used successfully in
coal mines. A layer of rock dust in the working area is entrained by the blast wave
and, as it forms an incombustible atmosphere, it extinguishes the flame. This
means of inertion is not usually available due to the contamination of product that
it causes.

Explosion Isolation
Isolating an explosion can restrict the amount of damage caused in several ways.
Primarily it stops the explosion from reaching other areas of the plant through the
process ducts or pipes, but also it stops the possibility of flame jets that can
occur at the end of long pipes and stops the pressure from the primary explosion
making secondary explosions in further vessels even more violent.
Isolation can be achieved in two different ways, either passive (activated by the
explosion itself) or active (requiring tripping by a sensor for activation). Passive
systems are favoured as they are simpler and more reliable, as long as they
function as intended. Usually these systems will, upon triggering, spray the dust
ahead of the flame front with extinguishing agent stopping further propagation,
alternatively they may simply close a valve ahead of the flame front (although this
can cause pressure problems).
There are a number of plant items that will avoid the propagation of flame
throughout the system. These include choked screw conveyers, rotary airlocks,
and special bursting disk systems that involve flow reversal.

A screw conveyor with choke can stop the flame front passing

A rotating airlock will stop the flame front passing

A Bursting disk installed on a pipeline to stop flame propagation by reversing flow direction

Pressure Resistant Equipment

The best way to contain the primary dust explosion is to have process equipment
that is strong enough to withstand the explosion. Dust explosion pressures are
usually within the range of 5-12bar(g).
Resistance to pressure-shock are different to normal operation pressures, a
pressure-shock will be short lasted as opposed to high operating pressures
which may need to be upheld for months at a time. Designing the plant item as
though it were a pressure vessel will cause it to be very expensive and beyond
what will probably be called for. Most vessels at risk of dust explosion are
designed so that under the maximum pressure in an explosion they will distort,
but not rupture. Occasionally if the risk of a dust explosion is very high, the
vessel may be built to withstand the pressure of the entire explosion as though it
were continuous.

Explosion Venting
Venting is the one of the cheapest, most effective ways to relieve pressure in an
explosion situation; however it is difficult to size the vent correctly to allow
sufficient pressure relief, as it must allow sufficient outflow of burnt dust and air
out to relieve the pressure being generated by the heat of the explosion. Usually
venting will be designed such that the pressure can be kept below some upper
value (that is lower than the strength of the vessel or building). If the powder in
the process is toxic venting to atmosphere is not possible, however venting to a
sealed area may be possible. Many different designs of venting are available for
all kinds of processes, including hinged doors that can withstand many
explosions, simple panels that are ejected, vent covers are usually attached to
the process vessel with clips or rubber seals which are known to fail under the
load of the explosion.

A vented dust explosion, Pred is the vessel strength

Vent Area Sizing

Vent size is dependant on:
Enclosure Volume
Enclosure Strength
Strength of Vent Cover
Burning Rate of Dust Cloud

Here you can see the pressures in unvented, insufficiently vented, and correctly vented vessels

There are some rules of thumb for sizing vents, you can use a vent ratio from this
table:
Max Rate of Pressure Rise (bar/s) Vent Ratio (m-1)
< 345

1 / 6.1

345 - 690

1 / 4.6

> 690
1 / 3.1
The vent ratio is the ratio of vent area to vessel volume. You can also use the
graph below to get an approximate size for your vents:

For large vessels, greater than 30m 3, the ratio for vent sizing can be reduced, the
reason being that it is unlikely that a vessel that large would be full of an
explosive mixture, hence the pressure will not rise linearly with volume.
There are more accurate and complicated methods of vent sizing which can be
found in most of the better books on dust explosions (both "Dust Explosions" by

P. Field and "Dust Explosions in the Process Industries" by R. K. Eckoff have

detailed chapters on vent design). The methods detailed contain accurate
methods based on length to diameter ratios and special cube root laws.

Hazards Caused by Venting

Venting does minimise the probability of large equipment destroying explosions,
but does provide some hazards:
Ejection of flames from vent opening
Emission of blast waves from the vent opening
Reaction forces on the equipment, induced by the venting process
Emission of solid objects (parts of the vessel, vent covers, etc)
Indoor venting can lead to secondary explosions
Fireballs can be ejected
The larger the vent and the lower the force required breaching it, the more
hazardous it is, as this increase the chance of unburnt dust being ejected, which
could then burn in the plant area as a fireball. Using vent ducts (ducts of the
same area as the vent) can minimise some of these problems by allowing the
explosion to take place in a sealed area, but take up a great deal of space and
still require the pressure to be relieved somewhere else (at the end of the duct).

Automatic Dust Explosion Suppression

Fast fire suppression systems can be used to stop dust explosion, they work with
three major considerations in mind:
Extinguishing agent is permanently pressurised
Large diameter discharge orifice
High speed valve opening (usually via a detonated charge)
These considerations are used and a system is made that obeys these rules and
can be triggered by a pressure (with a high set point to avoid accidental
triggering) or flame sensor (often both are used to stop false alarms).
You can see how it acts in this diagram:

You can see how the explosion suppression system works

The agent used for suppression is typically a powder based one such as
NH4H2PO4, although for some powders superheated steam is quite good too.

Good Housekeeping
Good housekeeping in this context refers to the removal of dust accumulations
within the plant. Careful removal of lying dust can eliminate the possibility of
secondary dust explosions occurring, and also help to prevent some ignition
sources.
This should be done by installing good dust extraction systems wherever there is
a particularly dusty area of the plant. Spilt dust should be removed immediately
using either a high power explosion proof vacuum cleaner or an internal
vacuuming system which removes dust and sends it to a central filtration system.
Minor but steady leaks must be looked out for, as these can cause large amounts
of dust to accumulate over a period of time, this is more likely to be a problem if
the process runs at a slightly elevated pressure. The best way to avoid dust

accumulation is to be constantly aware of the surroundings and ever vigilant as

even seemingly small amounts if dust can rise to make large clouds.
Compressed air blowers should not be used for the removal of dust as all they do
is relocate the dust.

Dust Control by Addition of Liquid

Addition of liquid to a dust can reduce the risk of dust explosions in several ways,
it increases the likelihood of agglomerate production and can also lessen the
amount of fine dust created in particle collisions. Oil is often added to grain to
help to minimise the amount of fine dust. There are less applications of this in the
chemical industry as most materials need to be uncontaminated so the addition
of water or oil to a product would be counterproductive (usually if water or oil
addition is not a problem it is better to work with pastes than dusts at all).

Plant Layout
Buildings used in dust processing plants that could be in danger of dust
explosions must be designed along the same lines as any plant which has the
danger of explosion. Generally they should be away from other buildings, and the
actual parts of the plant should be as far apart from each other as is possible on
the site (without creating transport problems). Buildings should be as low as
possible, preferably of one storey, or if this is not possible, the most explosion
prone part of the process should be as high as possible (preferably on the roof)
to minimise the chance of building collapse in an explosion. If the hazardous part
of the plant is located indoors then the area must be reinforced and there must
be protection for the rest of the areas of the plant (a blast wall is needed) and
sufficient venting to avoid structural damage from overpressure. Other features
that must be included are safe escape routes in case of an explosion and fire, fire
resistant materials of construction, fire-resistant doors and high quality electrical
insulation.

Human Factors
There will be many different people working in any plant, ranging from engineers
and technicians to management and sales, above all it is important that
communication between everyone in the plant is meaningful and conveys
information properly. Workers must have knowledge, motivation and the
confidence to make decisions when needed. There must be training and
instruction for all workers that enables them to develop and be able to deal with
the actuality of a dust explosion.

Choice of a Safety Solution

Having seen in the previous section the many ways of avoiding and minimising
the dust explosion hazard, engineers need to identify what is needed for their
plant. There are several ways of doing this which usually come down to a cost
versus safety analysis, to see whether a solution is practicable.
It has been suggested that the problem should be broken down into fundamental
parts thus:
The effectiveness of the protection system
The technical feasibility
The environmental acceptability
The financial acceptability
The effectiveness of a system will always basically come down to how well the
system is understood and how well the safety systems have been designed, and
should allow them to be technically feasible. Environmental considerations must
also be at the forefront of the designers mind as it's not worth risking an
environmental disaster for the saving of a few thousand pounds. Really the
design and choice of system is dependant on what has been specified as the
most important condition of the plant design, this should always be the
effectiveness of the system but is too often the financial acceptability.
The diagram below shows a way of working from the process dust to consider all
the possibilities.

From Dust Explosions in the Process Industries - R. K. Eckoff.

Hazard analysis always takes a large part in the choosing of the correct safety
system for a plant:
Hazard surveys
These should be run to see how much dangerous material is on site before
startup and to see what inventories of them will be used in the process
HAZOP
A HAZOP analysis should be performed to identify any areas where dangerous
situations can occur long before the plant is even built.

Fault tree analysis

This will allow designers to consider what combinations of conditions could lead
to an explosion or other hazardous situations.
Safety audits
Safety audits should be run to help keep abreast of any problems and identify
anywhere where complacency is occurring. These help maintain a high standard
of safety within the process.
There have been other suggested ways of systematically approaching the
selection of safety equipment for processes that are at risk of dust explosions,
but these are mostly used like the HAZOP analysis, as a starting point for
structured and deep thought about the process.

To Conclude...
This is the end of the website, I hope that you have reached here after reading
the whole of the page and I hope that this website has provided you with a useful
learning experience, and has extended your knowledge of dust explosions. I feel
glad that I have as it is now one of the few free sites that has any useful
information about dust explosions on the internet.
If you wish to pursue the subject of dust explosions further I recommend these
books:
Dust Explosions in the Process Industries - R. K. Eckhoff - 1997
This book is the most comprehensive book on dust explosions, published in 1997
it collects a great deal of the work by Field and Palmer, is very readable and yet
covers all aspects of dust explosions in great depth.
Butterworth-Heinemann; ISBN: 0750632704
Dust Explosions - P. Field - 1982
Part of the Handbook of Powder Technology this book is also a very
comprehensive guide to the phenomenon of dust explosions, and includes large
tables of useful data about many different chemicals and the likelyhood of them
being involved in dust explosions.
Elsevier; ISSN: 0167-3785
Industrial Dust Explosions - Cashdollar-Herzberg - 1986
A collection of papers from the 1986 symposium on industrial dust explosions,
this book has a great deal of technical data on specific aspects of dust
explosions.
ASTM 04-958000-31
Dust Explosions and Fires - K.N.Palmer - 1973
Another good book that seeks to explain the phenomenon of dust explosions
from the ground up, comprehensive and comprehendible, this book is a good
place to start, although some of the information may be slightly redundant due to
recent advances in the field it is one of the most cited books in the others.
ISBN 412 09430 4
Explosibility assessment of industrial powders and dusts - P. Field - 1983
This book is a useful and practical guide to the basics of dust explosions as it

contains useful tables concerning the explosibility of different chemicals as

powders and a basic look at the phenomenon.
HMSO; ISBN: 0116713623
The majority of data on this webpage has been extracted from these volumes,
and I would like to thank the authors for having written such thorough and
understandable books, that have enabled me to write this website.
cheerio
George Williamson
Wednesday, 06 February 2002 03:52:54