Understanding and Controlling Dust Explosion Hazards-Vahid Ebadat, CEO, Chilworth Technology, Inc.

This workshop presents practical techniques for both preventing dust explosions and protecting people and facilities from their effects. It presents a systematic approach to dust explosion hazard assessment directed towards obtaining a Basis of Safety for the process.

This workshop shall discuss:

• Employee exposure to combustible dust hazards.
• Compliance with recognized and applicable codes and standards such as those sited by the OSHA Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program
• Powder and dust property information regarding the flammability, ignition sensitivity, explosion severity, electrostatic properties, and thermal stability of the raw materials, dust deposits, intermediates and final products of the operation.

Properties of concern to OSHA include:

• Dust deposit particle size and moisture content
• Deposit percent combustible dust
• Maximum Normalized Rate of Pressure Rise – Kst test
• Minimum Explosible Concentration (MEC)
• Electrical Resistivity of metal dusts
• Class II determination
• Minimum Ignition Energy
• Minimum Ignition Temperature

Practical measures to eliminate/control potential dust explosion hazards according to applicable codes and standards through:

• Control of the spread of combustible dust atmospheres
• Elimination/control of potential ignition sources including electrostatic discharges from powder, people, and equipment
• Application of explosion protection and isolation

Electrostatic Hazards Associated with Liquid and Powder Processing-Vahid Ebadat, CEO, Chilworth Technology, Inc.

Electrostatic charge is normally generated whenever two materials (solids and/or liquids) make and then break contact. This presentation will discuss the condition under which electrostatic charges can generate, accumulate, and cause incendive discharges during liquid and powder processing/handling operations. Practical techniques for identifying, quantifying, and eliminating/controlling electrostatic ignition hazards will be presented.