Hope all of you readers are doing well. It is the time of Diwali here in India and everywhere one can see people in the festival mood. Be careful and safe & have a wonderful Diwali.
Combustible dusts are ranked into one of four classes i.e. St 0, St 1, St 2 and St 3. The level of explosion violence increases as we go from St 0 to St 3. The only dust that has zero risks of the explosion is a St 0 dust. However, all other dusts have an explosion hazard including the St 1 dust which can compromise containment on a piece of equipment, or blow out the walls of a building. Grains, Sugar, Fluor, etc. all fall in St class 1 dust.
Today I am trying to clear another misconception which I have come across while talking about St 1 dust. Many of our clients have told me that we are handling St 1 dust which is also the so-called "WEAK EXPLOSION" hence the risk is low.
I always give them the example of Imperial Sugar Explosion in 2008 where a St 1 Sugar dust lead to 14 fatalities or Didion Milling Co. explosion in 2017 where St 1 grain dust was to blame for 5 fatalities, a dozen injuries and $1.8 million fine.
