It’s “only” wood – the underestimated explosion hazards in wood handling facilities

What makes wood material and wood handling processes so special in terms of explosion hazards? This question can be answered quite simply, considering requirements of dust explosion phenomenon: combustible dust, air/oxygen and effective ignitions sources. Nearly all wood handling installations have the “perfect mixture” for dust explosions to occur.

Using the example of a fibreboard plant, where all typical wood industry-related equipment such as silo´s, conveyors, screens, mills, dryers, cyclones and dust collectors are found, an explosion hazard is even more likely, as all the above-mentioned equipment creates wood dust causing explosive atmospheres. Additionally, given mechanical moving parts as well as drying processes, ignition sources are easily generated. In autumn 2012, this deadly combination led to one of the most severe wood dust explosions in history in South America, where 5 people lost their lives and the entire plant was shut down for more than 5 months.

How to protect against explosion hazards in wood handling installations? The explosion safety concept for such plants typically is made up of a combination of explosion prevention measures (to reduce the likelihood of explosion) and explosion protection measures (to reduce the effects of an explosion to an acceptable level).

Dr.-Ing. Johannes Lottermann
Senior Consultant, Explosion Protection
Rembe GmbH

Full article on explosion hazards in handling woodworking wastes is published in the latest Weekly issue.