Guidelines on Compliance with New Federal Directive Relating to Explosion Prevention & Protection for Facilities Handling Combustible Dusts-Clive Nixon, Sales Manager, BS& B Safety Systems

The presentation will acquaint the attendees with the scope of the Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program. The key areas requiring compliance will be covered. There will be an explanation of the conditions required for a dust explosion and how to determine the severity of the risk. Examples will be given which demonstrate conditions which result in non-compliance. The main protection and prevention procedures will be explained ranging from housekeeping and electrical grounding to the implementation of active and passive technology. Information will be provided on where to seek additional guidance including an overview of the relevant National Fire Protection requirements which have been upgraded to Standards recently.

Flame Arresting Devices for Dust Explosions-Jef Snoeys, Explosion Protection Technology Manager, Fike Corporation

Many industrial processes handle materials with the potential for a dust explosion. Statutory requirements and voluntary standards exist to take both preventative and protective measures. For many years the most common and popular method of protection has been the use of explosion venting, releasing pressure and flame. In the early 90’s the technique of flameless venting was introduced, utilising industrial matrix type gas flame arrestors to remove the heat from the combustion. Such flame arrestor elements reduce the temperature below the point of auto-ignition, extinguishing the dust flame, and allowing the internal use of the device. Recent developments combine the advantages of certified explosion vent panels with gauze type flame arrestor elements which have been specifically designed to meet the unique requirements of dust explosions, providing unprecedented high venting efficiencies. In order to ensure that this relatively new technology complies with the EHSR (Essential Health & Safety Requirements) of the 94/9/EC ‘ATEX’ directive, a mandate was given by CEN Technical Committee 305 to prepare a harmonised standard. A subgroup of CEN TC305 WG3* will bring together the manufacturers of these protection systems, notified bodies, as well as companies which have already put in practice this protection technique to prepare the standard. The progress of this standard will be reviewed and compared to other standards. Performance variables will be identified and discussed.

Raising the Bar: Dust Control Systems which Pay for Themselves with Verifiable Gains in Process Stability, Yield, Uptime, Environmental Safety & Operator Satisfaction-Brent Hindman, Sales Engineering Manager, JOA North America LLC

JOA technology is based upon applied fluid dynamics for particle flows and air flows in the system. By comprehensive understanding of the process (whether feeding, weighing, mixing etc)you can calculate the required air flows that must be consistently aspirated (extracted) from the system to prevent instability. In many cases, you can prevent excess material from being extracted to the dust control system, and keep it directly in the process providing significant material savings. Ultimately, the particles that are collected must be conveyed effectively to the filter and fan with minimal settlement as these are risks for fire, explosion and excessive maintenance. JOA will show before and after case studies of several installations and introduce our equipment and project methodology which makes this possible. New technology: advanced graphical computer modeling for scenario modeling and risk reduction

Dust Control System Troubleshooting-Gary Johnson, Workplace Exposure Solutions LLC

Dust control system performance degrades over time to the point where the hoods or enclosures are no longer able to adequately capture dust. This 3 hour tutorial will list the root causes of sudden and gradual dust control system degradation and describe common failure modes for system components such as hood, ducts, collectors, and fans. It will also illustrate the several system analysis techniques to restore system baseline performance using visual observation and static pressure measurements.