Page 184 - Dust Explosions in the Process Industries

hapter 2

2.1

Experience has shown that “learning by doing” is an effective way of acquiring new
knowledge. Unfortunately, this also applies to learning about dust explosions. Those who
have experienced a dust explosion in their own plant, whether workers or management,
have a much more profound appreciation of the reality of this hazard than those who only
heard or read about dust explosions in general terms. Real understanding, in turn, pro-
duces the groper motivation for minimizing the probability of occurrence of such events
in the future.
Clearly, accidental dust explosions are highly undesirable in any plant, and one there-
fore seeks less dramatic means of transferring knowledge and motivation. One way is
the use of case histories, that is, fairly detailed accounts of dust explosions that actually
occurred elsewhere.
The number of well-documented dust explosions worldwide is considerable and only
a small fraction can be covered in this text. Because of my close cooperation with
Norwegian industry in investigating accidental dust explosions for nearly 20 years, I
have access to detailed information on many explosions that have occurred in Norway
e years. It is natural, therefore, to include some of this information in the present
book.
On the other hand, it is considered appropriate also to include accidents in countries
other than Norway. However, some well-known explosions described extensively else-
where in the open literature have not been included; for example, the catastrophic wheat
flour explosion in the Roland Mill in Bremen, Federal Republic of Germany, which was
discussed in detail by the Fire and Police Authorities of Bremen (1979). Also, many of
the large dust explosions in the United States after 1975 have been discussed in detail
by Kauffman (1982, 1987) and Kauffman and Hubbard (1984). A few of these never-
theless are included in the present account. Section 9.5 in Chapter 9 gives references to
reports of more recent accidents.

2.2
HE EXPLOSION IN A FLOUR WAREHOUSE IN TURl
ON DECEMBER 14,1785

This is probably the most-frequently quoted of all dust explosions that occurred. However,
only very rarely are details of Count Morozzo’s (1795) fascinating account mentioned.
It is therefore appropriate to start this sequence of case histories with the full original
account of the wheat flour explosion in Mr. Giacomelli’s bakery in Turin. The explosion