Combustible Dust Cleaning
Combustible Dust has been fueling tremendous explosions that can be avoided.
Thomas Monacelli of Advanced Indoor Air Quality care sighted a few for us that happened in recent years. Dust explosions throughout the US are more common than many people realize.
What do all of these explosions have in common? Combustible dust. If properly cleaned such tragedies can be avoided.
dust explosion incident at a sugar plant
In Kreamer Pennsylvania a sawdust silo exploded. This was the 4th incident in this plant in seven years. An explosion in a foundry in Massachusetts took the lives of three and nine were also
injured. Another example in 2003, a pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina had an explosion that killed 6 and injured 38. Just one month after, 7 lives were lost in an explosion in a Kentucky
acoustics insulation manufacturing plant and 37 were injured. In Georgia a sugar refinery plant left more tragically 14 dead and 38 injured.
Industrial facilities especially manufacturing ones generate dust during operations. When the dust becomes airborne it settles on surfaces throughout the facility. It is believed that 1/32 of an
inch of dust covering more than 5% of a room’s surface can cause an explosion. In order for an explosion to happen, a “fire triangle” must occur. The other elements are oxygen and heat. When
combined with other factors, these elements mix and cause a “dust explosion pentagon”
combustible dust "fire triangle"
There are different kinds of dust. It is important to recognize what type of dust is found in each facility and whether it is listed as an explosive dust according to OSHA. There are agricultural, carbonaceous, metal, chemical and plastic dusts. Some require more serious management than others.
An OSHA listing is posted on Advanced IAQ Care’s website (see below). Also the fines for not cleaning the facilities are far greater than the cost of cleaning. One such example is a grain company
was fined $293,000 in penalties for dust that was and eight of an inch deep.
A Professor at the University of Michigan, an expert in explosions caused by dust, says there is only one way to avoid dust explosions - remove the dust. Advanced Indoor Air
Quality Care Technicians clean using explosion proof vacuums. They also offer other services such as duct cleaning for the facility.
For more information please contact the office at 1-888-498-7949 or email at iaqcare@optonline.net or their website iaqcare.com
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