Fogging systems have been successfully used in the material-handling industry for more than 30 years to control explosive dust at transfer points. Today, fogging systems are an EPA Best Demonstrated Technology for subbituminous coal preparation plants.
The importance of properly managing fugitive dust emissions to ensure employee safety and equipment protection can’t be overstated. If you are a plant owner or operator who handles coal, then you are responsible for improving plant housekeeping, providing adequate employee training, and ensuring that the proper safety equipment is available and functional in the case of an emergency. I hear people say that safety is paramount at the plants I visit, yet many plants continue to ignore all the red flags when it comes to aggressively controlling fugitive dust, especially those plants that handle Powder River Basin (PRB) coal. There’s no longer any excuse for failing to have the best dust-management systems and practices.
A Brief History of Recent Coal Dust Standards
The hazards of combustible coal dust were the subject of an Investigation Report released by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) in November 2006. In this landmark report, the CSB reported on its investigation of dust explosions in general industry between 1980 and 2005. The CSB found that 281 combustible dust incidents killed 119 and injured 718 workers and “extensively damaged industrial facilities” in 44 states. The report concluded: “These findings illustrate the seriousness of the combustible dust hazard in U.S. workplaces, yet no comprehensive federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard exists to control the risk of dust explosions in general industry.”
OSHA responded by initiating a Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program (NEP), defining new standards to eliminate flash fires, explosions, and implosions caused by the ignition of accumulations of fugitive coal dust. (See “A Burning Concern: Combustible Dust,” POWER, May 2010.) The first release of the new NEP was on October 18, 2007, but a subsequent catastrophic explosion at a sugar refinery pressed OSHA to take more direct action against fugitive dust. It updated the NEP on March 11, 2008, noting that “OSHA is reissuing the directive (CPL03-00-008) on the Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program to increase its enforcement activities and to focus on specific industry groups that have experienced either frequent combustible dust incidents or combustible dust incidents with catastrophic consequences.”
Email
Comments
Print
Reuse
