[Jewelry making - Article 00562] - [Orchid] Dust explosions

[jesse brennan]

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    I posted this on the artmetal site in response to a report on a
    dust fire in a duust collector with mixed brass and aluminum
    dust: 

    Dust collectors are subject to fires ( explosions) because they
    combine a finely divided fuel ( almost anything)  oxygen (air)
    and a potentiol ignitor from static electric sparks. The make up
    of the fuel is not the most important thing - its the static
    spark discharge. The wide spread use of plastic hose and pipe
    instead of metal ducts increase the risk. All systems must be
    grounded properly. All metal parts should be grounded together
    with a copper conductor connected to a good ground. Plastic pipe
    or hose should have a bare copper wire run down the inside of the
    duct connected to the ground. The fire risk is smaller in vacuum
    cleaning type short period use. The electric potental bleeds off
    between use cycles. Continuous use ducts are another story. The
    risk is very much greater in areas or periods of very low
    humidity as larger potentials build up and bigger sparks occurr.
    I think most everyone has pestered a dog with static sparks
    produced by scuffing your feet on a carpet in the winter where
    humidity is low. Fresh aluminum dust will make a super fuel.
    People are killed and grain elevators destroyed every year by
    grain dust explosions. The cause isn't so much a mixture of dusts
    but the system design -don't be mislead. Jesse 


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