Also keep in mind dust laying on beams and equipment is not an explosion hazard. It needs to be raised up in the air. One typical scenario is something unrelated to the dust causes a "boom" releasing the dust into the air and it finds an ignition source and a second "boom". Depending on how much dust is initially released this in theory cause another release and boom. But usually the second boom takes care of the situation i.e. there isn't much left to worry about.
Also consider it's possible for a fire to out run the sprinklers through the dust laying around, not unlike a flammable liquid fire. I've seen paper dust out run fusing of heads (like 280 operated) but it was not an explosion. And the resulting water keeps the fire from spreading into the stuff or structure. True at some point there ain't a lot of water coming out. At least in paper dust there isn't a lot of heat to control. Sprinklers can do some good here if you can catch the fire before it starts running through the dust. Chris Cahill, P.E. Fire Protection Engineer Sentry Fire Protection, Inc. 763-658-4483 763-658-4921 fax Email: [email protected] Mail: P.O. Box 69 Waverly, MN 55390 Location: 4439 Hwy 12 SW Waverly, MN 55390 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 8:21 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Phenol epoxy resin dust If explosions are your concern, it will have no bearing on the sprinkler system design. If there is an explosion due an ignition of accumulated dust, the result of that will be over and done with before the sprinkler system could react. Unless the explosion starts an actual fire and if the sprinkler system and structure survives the explosion, it's very likely the sprinklers won't even know what happened. Has there been any mention of protection of the bag filter house? Hopefully it's located away from any occupied buildings otherwise you could be looking at some sort of exposure protection. Craig L. Prahl, CET Fire Protection Specialist Mechanical Department CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive PO Box 491, Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 [email protected] http://www.ch2m.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Nicky Marshall Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 5:47 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Phenol epoxy resin dust Does phenol based epoxy resin dust pose an explosion hazard? We are working on a project that has a grinding room that will produce epoxy resin filings and dust. The extraction system is high velocity (22 m/s - 72 ft/s) through in-ground trenches with small grilles at 3m (10 ft) spacing. The extraction unit itself is outdoors with collection bags for the filings and dust. As a solid, phenol based epoxy resins are reportedly fire retardant. Not all fire resistant soilds are fire resistant as dusts. We are concerned about an explosion overwhelming the sprinkler system. Any input appreciated Nicky Marshall Protech Design Ltd Auckland, New Zealand _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
