1. Combustibility Determination for Cotton Gin Dust and Almond Huller Dust
- Author
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Phillip J. Wakelyn and S. E. Hughs
- Subjects
Safety Management ,Poison control ,Mineral dust ,Combustion ,complex mixtures ,Fires ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,parasitic diseases ,Accidents, Occupational ,Humans ,Cotton Fiber ,Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality ,Flammable liquid ,Waste management ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,food and beverages ,Cotton gin dust ,Dust ,Prunus dulcis ,United States ,respiratory tract diseases ,Combustibility ,chemistry ,Environmental science ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S ,Dust explosion ,Sugar refinery - Abstract
It has been documented that some dusts generated while processing agricultural products, such as grain and sugar, can constitute combustible dust hazards. After a catastrophic dust explosion in a sugar refinery in 2008, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) initiated action to develop a mandatory standard to comprehensively address the fire and explosion hazards of combustible dusts. Cotton fiber and related materials from cotton ginning, in loose form, can support smoldering combustion if ignited by an outside source. However, dust fires and other more hazardous events, such as dust explosions, are unknown in the cotton ginning industry. Dust material that accumulates inside cotton gins and almond huller plants during normal processing was collected for testing to determine combustibility. Cotton gin dust is composed of greater than 50% inert inorganic mineral dust (ash content), while almond huller dust is composed of at least 7% inert inorganic material. Inorganic mineral dust is not a combustible dust. The collected samples of cotton gin dust and almond huller dust were sieved to a known particle size range for testing to determine combustibility potential. Combustibility testing was conducted on the cotton gin dust and almond huller dust samples using the UN test for combustibility suggested in NFPA 652.. This testing indicated that neither the cotton gin dust nor the almond huller dust should be considered combustible dusts (i.e., not a Division 4.1 flammable hazard per 49 CFR 173.124).
- Published
- 2017