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PREVENT TON OF GRAIN ELEVATOR AND M] LL EXPLOSIONS
P - port of the Panel on Causes and Prevention
of Grain Elevator Explosions
- of the
Committee on Evaluation of Industrial Hazards
- NATIONAL MATERI ALS ADVISO" BOARD
Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems
National Research Council
National Academy of Sciences
Publication NMAB 367-2
National Academy Press
Washi ngton, D .C.
1982
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was:approved.by.the
Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn
from the Councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy
of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the panel
responsible for the report were chosen for their special c~petences and
with regard for appropriate balance.'
The report has been reviewed by a group other than.the authors according to
procedures approved'by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of
. .
the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and
the Institute of Medicine. ..
The National Research Council was established by the National Academy of
Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology
with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the
federal government. The Council operates in accordance with general
policies determined by the Academy under the authority of its congressional
charter of 1863, which established. the Academy. as a private, nonprofit,'
self-governing membership corporation. The Council has become ache principal
operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National
Academy of Engineering in the conduct of their services to the government,
the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. It is
administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. The
National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine were
established in- 1964 and 1970, respectively, under the charter of the
National Academy of Sciences . ' . '
This study by the National Materials Advisory Board was conducted under
Contract No. J-9-F-8-0137 with' the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHAl. Funding was provided by OSHA, National Institute.for
Occupational Safety and Health, and the Department of Agriculture.
This report is for sale by the National Technical Information Service,
Springfield, Virginia 22151.
Printed in the United States of America.
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ABSTRACT
The panel, in this second report of the causes and prevention of grain
elevator explosions, presents an overview of the dust explosion problem in
grain-handling facilities. Recommendations are made that could reduce the
present danger of explosions.
A systems approach to risk management was employed that permits all
aspects of a situation to be considered simultaneously rather than
separately or sequentially. An attempt was made to identify every possible
hazard that contributes to grain dust explosions in elevators and mills.
Each identified hazard was evaluated in terms of its significance to
explosion potential--the most consequential having the highest ranking and
the least consequential the rawest. Based on these rankings, the panel
formulated its recommendations, balancing those actions that address the
most significant hazards with those that cost the least to implement.
Discussed in sue detail are preventive measures to forestall a dust
explosion, constraints imposed by the cost of dust control measures,
insurance against loss and injury, cooperation between government regulatory
agencies and industry, the legal environment, elevator operator housekeeping
practices, and the psychological factors involved.
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PREFACE
Agricultural dust explosions have an extensive history. She earliest
recorded explosion in a grain-handling facility occurred in a flour mill in
Turin, Italy, in 1785. * The U.S. government first took official notice of
such explosions in 1913 following one in a feed grinding plant in Buffalo,
New York. During and immediately following World War I, the United States
Grain Corporation conducted a program to investigate grain elevator
explosions and to recommend measures to prevent them. The National Fire
Protection Association (NE~A) recently published a list of important dust
explosions, excluding those in coal mining, occurring in the United States
and Canada since 1960. These and other reports and investigations,
however, have done little to reduce the frequency or severity of explosions.
As in the past, a flurry of activity followed a series of disastrous
explosions in late 1977. Industry, labor, and government all increased
their explosion prevention efforts. me federal government, through the
Ocoupational Safety and Health Administration (OSMA), the Department of
Agriculture and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSlI), requested that the National Academy of Sciences' National Materials
Advisory Board (NMAB)** through its existing Committee on Evaluation of
Industrial Hazards establish a panel to study the grain-handling industry
and to recommend measures to reduce the explosion hazard. Therefore, the
Panel on Causes and Prevention of Grain Elevator Explosions was formed,
composed of experts in many fields related to explosions, the grain
industry, and systems analysis.
* Count Morozzo, Repertory of Arts and Manufacturers 2 (1795) :416-432
(referred to in R. N. Palmer, Dust Explosions and Fires, pp. 7-8. 1973)
.
** The National Materials Advisory Board is a unit of the Commission on
Engineering and Technical Systems of the National Research Council. Its
general purpose is the advancement of materials science and engineering
in the national interest. It fulfills that purpose by providing advice
and assistance to government agencies and private organizations on
matters of materials science and technology affecting the national
interest, by focusing attention on the materials aspects of problems and
opportunities, and by making appropriate recommendations for the solution
of such problems and the exploitation of the opportunities.
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The panel members toured a number of elevators and mills ranging in
size from small country elevators to large export elevators, investigated a
number of explosions that occurred during the panel's tenure, and visited
the research facilities of Cargill, Inc., in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the
Department of Agriculture in Manhattan, Kansas. A number of tutorial
sessions were held during which members of industry, labor, and government
presented technical information and expressed their views on managerial and
administrative matters affecting safety in the industry. The chairman, on
behalf of the panel, gratefully acknowledges the contributions of these
individuals: Ludwig Benner, Jr., Ernest Davis, and Brad Grose of the
National Transportation Safety Board; Robert E. Frey and- Sidney Orem of the
Industrial Gas Cleaning Association; James Maness and Mark Goedde of the
National Grain and Feed Association; John Mealy of the Grain Elevator and
Processing Society; Joseph Gillis of Fenwal, Inc.; Larry Barber of the
American Federation of Grain Millers; Thomas Gillum of the Allied Industrial
Workers; Max Spencer of the Continental Grain Corporation and the NEPA;
Walter "flog of the Eellog Grain Company; Gary McDaniel of MAC Pneumatic
Systems, Inc.; Charles Rockwell of CEA Carter-Day Company; Philip Sheeler of
the Food and Drug Administration; James Otter of Scandura, Inc.;
G. D. Grant of Uniroyal,- Inc.; Roger Myhre of Koppel, Tnc.; William Fox of
Lakeland Engineering Equipment Company; Bruce Beelman of the U.S. Department
of Labor; and Robert Schoeff of the University of Kansas. Appreciation also
is extended to the liaison representatives of the panel and to the AHAB
s upport s taf f .
This report of the panel presents an overview of the dust explosion
problem in grain-handling facilities and includes recommendations for
reducing the present danger. The panel believes that effective
implementation of these recommendations requires understanding on the part
of all who are associated with the grain industry (i.e., managers, workers,
federal and state employees, legislators, labor officials, insurance
underwriters, and equipment manufacturers). Therefore, this report is
intended for an audience with widely varied interests in and experience with
grain and grain-handling facilities. Detailed technical information is
presented in appendixes.
The term Grain-handling industry" is used throughout this report and
encompasses both grain elevators and the various grain processing mills.
Mills not located next to grain elevators elevate and store grain and other
commodities in the same manner as grain elevators (with one exception, dust
pelletizing mills); consequently, they have the same problems as grain
elevators except for dust disposal. Each mill also has additional explosion
problems particular to the processing performed, and these unique problems
are discussed in an appendix to this report.
Roger A. S trehlow, Chairman
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Chairman
PANEL ON
CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF GRAIN ELEVATOR EXPLOSIONS
ROGER A. STREHLOW, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
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Members
JOHN E. ALBERTSON, American Federation of Government Employees,
Washington, D.C.
WILLIAM C. BRASIE, Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan
ROBERT M. FRYE, MAC Pneumatic Systems, Tnc., Kansan City, Missouri
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VERNON L. GROSE, Tustin Institute of Technology, Santa Barbara, California
ROBERT F. HUBBARD, Cargill, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota
CHARLES W. KAUFFMAN, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
ERNEST C. MAGISON, Honeywell Tnc., Fort Washington, Pennsylvania
ALLEN I. ORMSBEE , University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
ALBERT S. TOWNSEND, National Agra Underwriters, Tnc., Camp Hill,
Pennsylvania
Liaison Representatives
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EDWARD J. BALLITCH, Food and Drug Administration, Washington, D.C.
PETER BOCHNAK, National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health,
Morgantown, West Virginia
MARTIN A. ESHLEMAN, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
DON GOODWIN, Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina
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DONALD D. HERRING, Department of.Agriculture' Washington, D.C.
JOHN F. McANULTY, U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, D.C.
THEODORE A. Phi, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
Morgantown, West Virginia
JOSEPH E. PIPRIN, Occupational Safety and Health Administration,
Washington, D.C.
YEShAJAHU POMERANZ, Department of Agriculture, Manhattan, Ransas
THOMAS H. SEYMOUR, Occupational Safety and Health Administration,
Washington, D.C. .
BERNARD T. WOLESON, U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
NMAB Staff
STANLEY M. BAREIN, Staff Scientist
NELSON T. GRISAMORE, Staff Scientist
*Appointed during the course of the study.
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Chairman
COMMITTEE ON EVALUATION OF INDUSTRIAL HAZARDS
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HOMER W. CARHART, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington,. D.C.
Members
FREDERICK R. EIRICH, Polytechnic Institute of New York, New York
LELAND J. HALL, The Mill Mutuals,. Chicago, Illinois
ERNEST C . MAGISON, Honeywell Inc ., Fort Washington, Pennsylvania
J. ARTHUR NICHOLLS, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
PETER J. SCHRAM, Underwriters Laboratories, Tnc., Northbrook, Illinois
ROGER A. STREHLOW, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Liaison Representatives
PETER BOCHNAK, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
Morgantown, West Virginia
CHTA CHEN, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Washington, D.C
ANDREW M. COWAN, Department of Agriculture, Belt~ville, Maryland
JOHN A. GERARD, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
Morgantown, West Virginia
RICHARD W. McQUAID, David W. Taylor Naval Ship Research and Development
Center, Annapolis, Maryland
JOSEPH E. PIPKIN, Occupational Safety and Health Administration,
Washington, D.C.
THOMAS H. SEYMOUR, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Washington, D.C.
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#
~1~1 ~8
ERSKINE HARTON, Consultant, Falls Church, Virginia
MURRAY JACOBSON' Mine Safety and Health ^dministratidn,
Arlington, Virginia
STANLEY Me BARKIN, Staff Scientist
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Chapter ~ Introduction
CONTENTS
Ba ckground ~
Ris k Management Me thodology
Pe ferences
Chapter 2 Conclusions and Peca~endations
Conclusions
Pec~endations
Chapter 3 The Explosion Problem
Grain-P - ndling Facilities
Do st Ge ne ration
Dust Explosions
Contr i busing Factors
Pefere noes
Chapter 4 Preventive Measures
Dust Control
Ignition Sources
Venting and Suppression
Pe rsonnel
Indus try Information
Re search and Deve lopment
Peferenoes
Chapter ~ Constraints
C06 t of bus t Control
Insu rance
Government-Industry Relations
Le gal Envirorunent
Housekeeping
Psychological Factors
Refe renoes
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31
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~ Page
Chapter 6 Basis for Pecamnendations
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Ex isting Facilities
Resee rch
Fu ture Facilities
Government Regulations
Pe ferences
Appendixes
A Ranking Grain Elevator Hazards
B Dus t EKplos ions
C Explosions in Mills Handling Grain Products
D Report of the Subpanel on Pec~mended Standards
and Be gulations
Ourricula vitae of Panel Members
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43
45
57
60
61
62
63
115
123
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