You can’t afford to let an explosion threaten your vital facility. Fortunately, there are reliable, proven ways to safeguard your most vital facilities against explosion and protect your bottom line.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a National Emphasis Program and continues to communicate with most industries on the hazards of combustible dust. The agency’s focused effort is targeted at reducing combustible dust risks in industrial plant settings.
Many manufacturing processes create very small particles of dust which may become airborne, where they settle on surfaces and in crevices throughout the plant. Eventually these particles not only create a housekeeping issue, but if the particles are combustible, they can represent a potentially explosive dust cloud if disturbed.
It is essential for plant leaders to understand the risks of combustible dust and ensure they manage combustible dusts in their facilities. AB Flow-tek can supply dust collectors to support your combustible dust control strategy by interfacing with you and your experts on fire and explosion protection equipment and solutions. Combustible dusts generally present both fire and explosion risks so it may help to consider the management of these risks separately
Many process requirements may make elimination of combustible dust, mist, or fume impractical. However, it may still be very possible to manage the dispersion of dust within your plant by using an appropriate and effective industrial ventilation system including dust collection. A well designed, maintained, and operated industrial ventilation system including good hoods, proper duct sizes, and properly selected collection equipment can provide effective dust control and can therefore help manage the presence of dispersed dust. This not only reduces housekeeping frequency and expense, but could also help you reduce the risk of dust explosions in your facility, particularly the destructive secondary explosions, by helping reduce the presence of dispersed fuel in your facility.
WHERE TO START ?
AB Flow-tek works with it’s customers and provides expert advice to help you better understand how to integrate dust collection into your combustable dust management strategy. The first step is to have your dust tested to identify it’s severity from a combustable standpoint. The chart below (provided by Donaldson Torit) illustrates the proper steps to help decide if additional equipment is necessary.
LINKS
OSHA www.osha.gov/dsg/combustibledust/index.html