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How to Avoid a Combustible Dust Explosion [Video]

Laser cutting sheet metal

The buildup of combustible dust can present hazards to your employees and facility.

In this video, IVI Project Engineer Doug Schauer discusses the ingredients that lead to a combustible dust explosion, industries most at risk for dust explosions and how to protect your facility. See how IVI can help through its design, build and install industrial ventilation services.

Transcript

What Causes Combustable Dust Explosions?

Combustible dust are fine particulates usually created in the manufacturing environment that present an explosion hazard under certain conditions when this dust is suspended in the air. Dust explosions can be fatal they can cause equipment damage they can even destroy your facility.

There’s five ingredients for a dust explosion.

  • The dust itself which has to be combustible.
  • The dust needs to be suspended in the air or it needs to be like a cloud of dust.
  • The dust needs to be contained, and
  • There also needs to be oxygen.
  • Then of course the ignition source.

It’s called the dust explosion pentagon.

There’s a lot of dust out there and people don’t realize how many dust are actually combustible or explosive. It could be agricultural it could be carbon based, metallic dusts, chemical dust and even plastic dust.

Combustable Dust Explosion Protection

The best way to protect your facility from a dust explosion is if you do have a dust collector and if you’re installing it install your dust collector outside that way if there is an explosion it will be away from employees and your facility. One thing you can do immediately is just get to get it on your PM program. A lot of the facilities have a preventative maintenance program so you can as you’re looking at this equipment checking out the equipment you can check for dust that’s maybe accumulating, you can check for dust that’s puffing out of the equipment.

How IVI Can Help Prevent Combustable Dust Explosions

We can help you. We can we can do some tests on your dust collection system. We can take air flow readings, we can balance your system so you get the proper collection. IVI can also help you out with a hazard assessment of your of your facility just to see what to see if you do have dust that are combustible. We can look at your equipment to make sure it’s operating properly, things like that. We can also take a sample of your dust and test it to see how explosive it is.