Evaluation of Dust Explosion/Fire Hazards During a Process Hazards Analysis [PHA]

Evaluation of Dust Explosion/Fire Hazards during a Process Hazards Analysis [PHA]

 

Mayur Patel

DuPont Engineering

mayur.patel@ind.dupont.com

and

S. Dharmavaram

DuPont Engineering

seshu.dharmavaram@usa.dupont.com

Many of the recent dust fire and explosion incidents have shown that PHA teams have either failed entirely to recognize or failed to adequately evaluate the fire and explosion hazards associated with combustible solid materials. Today, many companies rely on the PHA process to uncover potential process hazards including dust explosion/fire hazards and recommend additional risk reduction measures if required. However, there are some practical challenges which a PHA team has to overcome to effectively evaluate process hazards of the combustible solid materials. This paper reviews those challenges and discusses how to effectively manage them while conducting PHAs of combustible solid handling operations.