Combustible dust related fires and explosions occurring amongst wood pellet manufacturers in the United States is a problem plaguing facilities on a global basis. Last month a fire occurred at the Wood Fibre Products facility in British Columbia, Canada, where several conveyor belts were ablaze.with product. The local fire chief acknowledge that fires of this nature are not uncommon.

This common thread of combustible dust related fires on a regular basis is a troubling issue. Especially when the likelihood and severity of these incidents can be reduced if best engineering practices are applied when handling combustible particulate solids that generate combustible dust. Such standards can be found in the NFPA 664: Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Explosions in Wood Processing and Woodworking Facilities, which can be viewed for free on their website.

Wood pellets used for heating is becoming ever more popular especially with the escalating costs of fuel oil are viewed in comparison. Sweden is the leading county that consumes wood pellets in an industry that produced over three million tons in 2007, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly.

With the global manufacturing high capacity thats occurring in the wood pellet industry, the prevalence of combustible dust related fires and explosions will continue unless abatement measures are implemented. Less than threes weeks ago, New England Wood Pellet, in Jaffery, New Hampshire experienced a conveyor fire that traveled into the silos. Prior to the fire, the company was cited by OSHA for combustible dust hazards.

Over the last three months combustible dust related incidents have occurred in over ten percent of the Pellets Fuels Institute (PFI) membership on the east coast of the USA. A week ago, AJ Stoves and Pellets, not a member of PFI, experienced another combustible dust explosion in the hopper at their Marion, Pennsylvania facility.

Incidents like these will continue unless preventative and mitigative measures are implemented in the wood pellet manufacturing industry. For example, a spark detection and extinguishment system would lessen the severity of conveyor fires that feed into silos. Flamex, is one example of a leading global supplier of fire protection equipment which provides alternatives in fire abatement.

All global facilities that process wood products should conduct a process hazard analysis and risk assessment of their plant as soon as possible. Identifying potential ignition sources in conjunction with assessing the ignition sensitivity and explosion severity will go a long way in providing a basis of safety that will ensure continued uninterrupted operations.

Google Map Global Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires