By Jon A. Barrett – Business Development Specialist, Interior Maintenance Company, Inc

Combustible Dust, (or Explosive Dust), cleaning, is a required preventative maintenance program, in manufacturing and production facilities, to prevent safety hazards, possible fires and explosions, and for proper Indoor Air Quality.  Combustible dust is fine particulate dust, which is generated from products such as wood, metals, grains, agricultural, chemicals, plastics, paper, and carbonaceous products.

The manufacturing and production facilities equipment and machinery, pulverize, mill, grind, crush, macerate, and cut the bulk product.  In return, dust is generated, and accumulates on all equipment and facility structure surfaces.  The fine powder dust, which is suspended on the higher, inaccessible and unnoticeable surfaces, is the most problematic, for combustible dust.

Health Effects of Dust
Combustible Dust, can impact and affect, the facility workers health, leading to illnesses, and injuries.  “The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 6.1 percent of private-sector employees suffered 5.7 million workplace injuries and illnesses in 2000. Forty-six percent of those injury cases required days away from work for recuperation or restricted work activity.

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.

Combustible dust related explosions and fires are a global problem that occurs on a daily basis across a wide spectrum of industry where the dragon does not differentiate between borders. In conjunction with combustible dust events, many facilities in the manufacturing sector are restructuring in conjunction with plant shutdowns and ensuing layoffs.

This economic condition in a majority of instances is unpreventable especially due to current global energy supply and demand considerations. Yet the occurrence of combustible dust explosions and fires which will totally destroy a facility can be minimized through proactive preventative administrative and engineering “best practices” mitigative measures.

Several weeks ago the Dongwha Patinna fibreboard plant in Tutura, New Zealand experienced a combustible dust explosion in the duct work leading to the dust collector in which a worker was severely burned from the rapidly expanding fireball exiting an open access door.