Patriot, (is it Mike?)
I'm making a comment here to a comment you had made in Sledges thread on his neighbor being a jerk by running a truck all night. Sounds kinda convoluted but I don't want to highjack the thread by commenting there.
You had indicated you were going to reduce the hazard of coal dust when scrapping a couple of coal crushers by filling the building with exhaust gases from trucks, and credited this forum for the knowlege.
I had posted a long post on this forum about prepping large tanks for cutting by venting them and displacing the flammable gases with nitrogen. I'm sure I sounded like a safety Nazi (not my intent!) but it had to be said.
I hope this information is not guiding you as to how to control atmospheres that are susceptible to DUST explosions. It seems to me the control of dust explosions can be a completely different animal. I'm not an expert in dust but have been sensitized to it from the two tragic dust explosions recently experienced in northern BC sawmills.
I would suggest you talk to safety guys from the coal industry or grain handling industry to get up to the minute info on working in potentially explosive dust atmospheres. I believe there are safer ways of reducing or eliminating the hazard by (1) cleaning--digging the coal out of everything, and hosing everything clean with fire hoses, and (2) heavy ventilation. I don't think that displacing the oxygen in a building with CO2 or other products of combustion is a preferred method, since it forces all of the personnel who will need to go into this atmosphere be trained to wear Scott packs or some breathing apparatus. Maybe even a more dangerous situation than dust explosions! I would also guess that working in this kind of atmosphere will attract OSHA types like dogs to a gutwagon. As long as the dust is kept below a certain % in the air it will not combust, similar to that of % gases in the air, called the LEL, or lower explosive limit. For example, it is my understanding that dust in a sawmill only approaches the lower explosive level when it is so thick you cannot see more than 20 feet. Knowing this allows you to guage your actions.
You are probably 17 steps ahead of me on this....
By the way, I am impressed by the thoughtful comments by others on this thread. Lots of good heads out there!!
Jon.
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