Considerations for Avoiding Explosions in Powder Processing
Volkmann Engineer Offers Guidance on Prevention by Design
Bristol, PA: As companies invest in workplace safety initiatives and divert resources to comply with the many regulations and guidelines intended to protect workers from explosion hazards, perceptive engineers are rethinking the logic of allowing explosions to occur by design, according to David Nichols, vice president of sales and marketing for process equipment manufacturer Volkmann USA, Bristol, PA (https://www.volkmannusa.com). Nichols offers the following considerations for avoiding explosions when processing ignitable powders:
Containing Explosive Damage
Many companies invest abundantly in clever systems to suppress, contain, or vent explosive energy in hopes of minimizing the damage to personnel, equipment, and to ongoing operations. However, these systems are designed to operate after a costly explosion has occurred. Preventing explosions from occurring in the first place by designing explosion-proof systems seems a far safer, less costly, and more desirable outcome.
Beware Changing Material Properties
Powder process equipment is often designed to suit a specific application given a precise set of materials, conditions, and quality targets. As supply chain issues trigger material substitutions, it's vital to understand that even the slightest change in the particle size or shape, moisture content, and/or other properties may render the new material an explosion risk even if the equipment had been verified as safe from explosions when processing the original material.
Eliminating Risk
An explosion requires oxygen, an ignitable fuel source such as a fine powder, and a source of ignition, such as a spark, to occur. Removing any one of the three eliminates the possibility of an explosion. Equipment such as pneumatic vacuum conveying systems that operate without electricity, without rotating parts, without generating heat, and with proper electrostatic grounding eliminate the source of ignition as a risk factor, eliminating the potential for an explosion. Volkmann conveyors use this design concept and earned the ATEX certification as suitable for safe installation in all dust explosion areas. Volkmann also manufactures an ATEX-approved system for discharging into Gas-Ex (zone 0/1) environments called the INEX system.
For more information, contact Volkmann, Inc., 1900 Frost Road Suite 102, Bristol, PA 19007; 609.265.0101; contact@volkmannusa.com; www.Volkmannusa.com.
For Immediate Release, Media Contacts:
David Nichols
+1-609-265-0101
marketing@volkmannusa.com
Paul Entin
+1-908-479-4231
paul@eprmarketing.com
