Changes to Dust Fire and Explosion Standards
N
umerous standards exist to prevent dust fires and explosions. In the United States, the National Fire Protection Association is charged with creating and maintaining standards for fire prevention, including standards associated with combustible dust. Many of these standards have seen updates or revisions recently, with the biggest changes focused on the requirements for conducting a dust hazard analysis (DHA). In fact, significant proposed changes are currently in the works. NFPA maintains over 300 codes and standards covering all aspects of electrical, fire and explosion safety. While NFPA has no enforcement power of its own, authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) often reference NFPA standards in their own regulations. AHJs include the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as well as local fire marDavis shals and building permitting and inspection offices. In the United States, maintaining compliance with NFPA’s combustible dust standards generally falls on the individual facility rather than on equipment manufacturers. Facilities must determine if they have combustible dusts, what standards they would fall under, and what requirements they must comply with based on the equipment they operate in their operation. This differs from, for example, the European ATEX standards which
BY JEFF DAVIS
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require detailed certification processes on the equipment vendors for all equipment utilized for combustible dust. The NFPA standards for combustible dust that pertains most directly to pellet and biomass industries are as follows: • NFPA 652: Standard on the Fundamentals of Combustible Dust, 2019 Edition • NFPA 664: Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Explosions in Wood Processing and Woodworking Facilities, 2020 Edition • NFPA 61: Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Dust Explosions in Agricultural and Food Processing Facilities, 2020 Edition • NFPA 654: Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing, and Handling of Combustible Particulate Solids, 2020 Edition • NFPA 68: Standard on Explosion Protection by Deflagration Venting, 2018 Edition • NFPA 69: Standard on Explosion Prevention Systems, 2019 Edition
NFPA 61, 654, and 664 are called the commodity-specific standards. The purpose of these standards is to give specific industry types combustible dust standards based on their type of operation. A wood pellet facility would utilize NFPA 664, while an agriculturally based pellet mill (e.g. peanut shells) would utilize NFPA 61. NFPA 654 exists for general manufacturing facilities that do not have their own specific commodity standard. With so many standards that could be used, it is easy to get confused on which to follow, especially as recommendations can vary across the standards. For this reason, NFPA created NFPA 652: Standard on the Fundamentals of Combustible Dust in 2015. The purpose of NFPA 652 was to serve as the overarching standard that applies to all facilities with combustible dusts, and be the starting point for each facility. NFPA 652 was the first standard to issue the requirement for conducting a DHA. In the current 2019 edition of NFPA 652, the deadline for completion of the DHA is September 7, 2020. The current editions of NFPA 61, 654, and 664 have all worked to integrate NFPA 652 into their standard. The goal from each of the commodity standards
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20 PELLET MILL MAGAZINE | ISSUE 3 2020
