World Grain - March 2015 - 81

FEATURE: GRAIN DUST EXPLOSIONS REMAIN HAZARD

DOCUMENTING EXPLOSIONS
Kansas State University (KSU),
Manhattan, Kansas, U.S., has a history
of documenting dust explosions in the
U.S. and has led efforts to educate grain

processing industry staff about the risks
of dust generation and explosion.
From 1980 through 2005, Robert
Schoeff, emeritus professor, Department
of Grain Science and Industry, KSU,

Figure 1
20
18
Number of explosions

16

Ten-year
average

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

Year
Figure 2: Explosion locations

the facility, which caused grain dust and
air inside the grain elevator to explode.
The 100 recorded U.S. dust explosions
from 2005 through 2014 resulted in 96
injuries and nine fatalities.
The average number of explosions per
year was 10 during this period, which is
only a slight decrease from 10.6 from
1995 through 2004 (Figure 1). In 2013
and 2014, however, the number of incidents was way lower than the 10-year
average. Dust explosion incidents in
2005 and 2008 were much higher than
the 10-year average, with 13 and 19 explosions, respectively. A possible contributor to this rise is that 2004 and 2007
saw high market-year corn production.
New technologies and increased awareyear (2010-14) average to 8.8.
Most cereal grain production in the
U.S. is from the Midwestern region, so
most grain dust explosion incidents occur in the Midwest (Figure 2, above).
However, Figure 2 also indicates the
spread of grain dust explosions throughout the country. Incidents in Portland,
Oregon; San Bernardino, California;
and Frankford, Deleware, prove that no
part of the country is immune.

Figure 3
12
Number of explosions (2006-14)

collected data on dust explosions, including the causes and resulting fatalities and injuries. In 2012, KSU renewed
the data compilation with support from
the National Grain and Feed Foundation
(NGFF). KSU has also published a
DVD on grain dust explosion prevention, which is in great demand from
the industry.
Grain dust explosions remain a potential hazard in the grain handling and
processing industries. In a September
2014 incident, four people received
burn injuries in a grain dust explosion at
a pet food plant near Flagstaff, Arizona,
U.S. The explosion was triggered by

10
8
6
4
2
0
December

November

October

September

www.World-Grain.com / World Grain / March 2015

August

July

June

May

April

March

February

January

Month

YEAR-ROUND HAZARD
Contrary to some popular beliefs,
dust explosions are a year-round hazard.
Figure 3 (left) shows the distribution of
dust explosions during different months
81



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World Grain - March 2015

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https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-december-2024
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-november-2024
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-october-2024
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-september-2024
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-august-2024
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-july-2024
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-june-2024
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-may-2024
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-april-2024
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-march-2024
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-february-2024
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-january-2024
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-december-2023
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-november-2023
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-october-2023
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-september-2023
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-august-2023
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-july-2023
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-june-2023
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-may-2023
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-april-2023
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-march-2023
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-february-2023
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-january-2023
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-december-2022
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-november-2022
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-october-2022
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-september-2022
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-august-2022
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-july-2022
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https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-december-2021
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/-world-grain-november-2021
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https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-september-2021
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-august-2021
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-july-2021
https://digital.world-grain.com/sosland/wg/world-grain-june-2021
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