162 Re: Dust Collection, Heating
Description
This article is from the Woodworking FAQ Collection 5, by multiple authors.
162 Re: Dust Collection, Heating
From: alex@hpihoah.HP.COM (Thomas Alexander)
Date: 6 Nov 87 22:13:37 GMT
I found the following information in a "Woodsmith" publication. It
was Woodsmith Number 38, March/April 1985.
A reader sent in the following question:
"I have a question about a potential safety problem in my shop.
Whenever I'm sanding a project in my basement shop, the basement
becomes filled with very fine sanding dust. Because my gas water
heater and furnace are both completely exposed, I'm concerned that the
sanding dust may be a fire hazard."
Woodsmith's response:
"To find an answer to your question, I contacted three experts: our
local fire marshal, our state OSHA office, and the National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA).
First of all, I found out there's a significant difference between a
dust fire and an explosion. A dust fire occurs when a particle of
dust comes in contact with an igniting source (such as an open flame).
If there's a high enough concentration of dust particles in the air,
every time a particle burns, it ignites the other particles around it.
This can develop into a chain reaction -- or flash fire that spreads
like a wave across a room.
A dust explosion, on the other hand, results from a large flash fire
that occurs in a tightly enclosed area. However, for an explosion to
occur, it takes just the right set of conditions and sequence of
events. It should be of some comfort to know that it's all but
impossible to produce a dust explosion in a home workshop.
Even a flash fire in a home shop is only theoretically possible,
according to Bob Benndetti of the NFPA. It would almost have to be
intentional -- like throwing a bucket of sawdust in the air in front
of an open flame -- to achieve the concentration of airborne dust
needed to keep the chain reaction in progress.
In a home shop, even during heavy sanding conditions with little
ventilation, the concentration of sanding dust in the air just isn't
high enough for a flash fire to occur. And by simply providing a
little ventilation, there shouldn't be a problem."
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