Combustible Dust: What You Don’t Know Can Be Catastrophic
Is your facility producing combustible dust? If so, what safety measures do you have in place to prevent a dust explosion? Is there a potentially combustible situation at your plant that you may not be aware of?
At RL Kunz, we’ve found that many plants at risk don’t realize they are at risk nor are they aware of the new NFPA 654 Standard. Unfortunately, the law is such that even if you are unknowingly in violation, the penalties still apply.
As representatives of Fenwal Explosion Prevention products, RL Kunz can help you determine if there are potentially combustible areas in your facility. We can set up a meeting with a Fenwal product engineer to review your application, answer questions and to make recommendations for a system solution in compliance with NFPA 654 Standard.
Explosion Protection System Solutions (PDF Downloads)
- Vented Dust Collector with Pro-Flap-Plus Passive Isolation Valve
- Flameless Vented Dust Collector with Pro-Flap-Plus Passive Isolation
- Vented Dust Collector with Chemical Inlet Isolation
- Suppressed Dust Collector with Chemical Inlet Isolation
- Dust Collector with Clean-air Re-circulated Back to Building
- Dust Collector Suppression and Inlet & Outlet Isolation
- Dust Collector Hybrid Suppression (Combustible Dust & Flammable Vapor)
What Industries Are at Risk?
Combustible dust explosion hazards exist in a variety of industries, including, but not limited to:
- Agriculture
- Chemicals
- Fertilizer
- Food (e.g., candy, sugar, spice, starch, flour, feed)
- Furniture
- Grain elevators, bins and silos
- Metal powder processing or storage (especially magnesium and aluminum)
- Paper
- Plastics
- Pharmaceuticals
- Textiles
- Tire and rubber manufacturing
- Tobacco
- Wood processing and storage
What Products Can Form Combustible Dust?
Some of the natural and synthetic organic materials that can form combustible dusts include:
- Biosolids (dried wastes from sewage treatment plants)
- Coal and other carbon dusts
- Food products (e.g., grain, cellulose, powdered milk, sugar, flour, starch, cocoa, maltodextrin)
- Plastics (e.g., phenolics, polypropylene)
- Pharmaceuticals (e.g., vitamins)
- Resins (e.g., lacquer, phenol-formaldehyde)
- Textiles (e.g., cotton dust, nylon dust)
- Wood (e.g., wood dust, wood flour)
Combustible dusts can also be formed from inorganic materials and metals including:
- Aluminum
- Iron
- Magnesium powder
- Manganese
- Sulfur