Canadian Biomass Magazine

Hazardous material that lead to dust explosions

November 23, 2012
By Pieter Zeeuwen

Nov. 23, 2012 - It is well known that wood is a combustible material, and combustion incidents do happen in industries processing wood. But when two sawmills in British Columbia exploded in three months earlier this year, killing four people and injuring dozens more, the potential for dust explosions suddenly received a lot more attention. 


Dust explosions occur whenever a cloud of fine and dry combustible material (dust) is ignited. How easily a dust explosion can be created depends on the kind of material, but also on the particle size and the moisture content of the dust. The finer and drier a dust is, the easier it is to create a dust cloud; the easier it is to ignite that cloud, the more violent the ensuing explosion is. READ FULL ARTICLE.


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