Controlling combustible dust is paramount. According to a panel of experts who joined together to present a roundtable on the topic, there is an average of 10 incidents per year. A Chemical Safety Board study from 2006-2017 reported 105 incidents, 59 fatalities and 303 injuries from combustible dusts alone.
The roundtable -- which was hosted by Chemical Processing and brought together industry leaders in hazard identification, evaluation and control for combustible dust hazards for an exclusive discussion -- is now available on demand. The panel moderator, Guy Colonna, senior director of the National Fire Protection Association, challenged panelists with tough questions in order to increase awareness of the hazards and the available safeguards of fires and explosions within combustible solids processing and handling industries.
Panelists were: Jason Krbec -- sales engineering manager for CV Technology; Ashok Dastidar -- vice president for dust and flammability testing and consulting services with Fauske & Associates; and Jeramy Slaunwhite -- North American Explosion Safety Consultant with Rembe Inc.
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The panelists addressed questions from the audience and gave sound advice on NFPA and DHA requirements as well as specific details regarding personal protective equipment, how to calculate the quantity of purge nitrogen to be used in case of fire as well as what type of detection and alarms to be used to prevent explosions in ducts and bag filters.
The team of experts from several companies were happy to join forces for this worthwhile topic. Indeed, they all agreed that safety has no competition.
