This Combustible Dust Class explains the requirements for a Dust Hazard Analysis (DHA). It gives overview of the methodologies that can be employed to perform a DHA. The course also includes a logical approach to characterizing a powder’s hazardous dust properties, as well as a description of various techniques used to control and/or avoid dust explosions in a safe and compliant manner.
“Combust” is more than just a fire.
You’re probably familiar with common flammable materials (wood, paper, coal, and more). Combustible dust can come from these and hundreds of others. That’s because most organic materials, once dust-sized, have 360 degrees of surface area with microscopic diameters (420 microns or less). Their small size makes them more flammable and the potential for combustion occurs once they’re dispersed in the air.
Below is a combined list from OSHA and other state’s departments of labor that highlights common industrial products and materials that can create combustible dust. While extensive, the list is neither whole nor all-inclusive. Be aware that most organic or metallic materials can become combustible dust.
Agricultural Products
- Egg white
- Beet sugar
- Corn starch
- Milk (powdered, dry, nonfat)
- Milk sugar
- Soy flour
- Rice (flour, starch)
- Sugar
- Tapioca
- Wheat (starch, grain, flour)
- Whey
- Wood flour
Metal Dusts
- Aluminum
- Bronze
- Iron carbonyl
- Magnesium
- Zinc
Plastic Dusts
- (poly) Acrylamide
- (poly) Acrylonitrile
- (poly) Ethylene
- Epoxy resin
- Melamine (resin, molded)
- (poly) Methyl acrylate
- Phenolic resin
- (poly) Propylene
- Terpene-phenol resin
- Urea-formaldehyde
- (poly) Vinyl acetate
- (poly) Vinyl alcohol
- (poly) Vinyl chloride
Chemical Dusts
- Adipic acid
- Anthraquinone
- Ascorbic acid
- Calcium acetate
- Calcium stearate
- Carboxy-methylcellulose
- Dextrin
- Lead stearate
- Methyl-cellulose
- Paraformaldehyde
- Sodium ascorbate
- Sodium stearate
- Sulfur
- Zinc stearate
Agricultural Dusts
- Alfalfa
- Apple
- Beet root
- Carrageen
- Carrot
- Cocoa (powder, bean dust)
- Coconut shell
- Coffee
- Corn meal
- Cornstarch
- Cotton
- Cottonseed
- Garlic powder
- Gluten
- Grass
- Hops (malted)
- Lemon (peel & pulp)
- Linseed
- Locust bean gum
- Malt
- Oat grain
- Olive pellets
- Onion powder
- Parsley (dehydrated)
- Peach
- Peanut meal and skins
- Peat
- Potato (flour, starch)
- Raw yucca seed
- Rye flour
- Semolina
- Soybean
- Spice
- Sunflower
- Tea
- Tobacco
- Tomato
- Walnut
- Xanthan gum
Carbonaceous Dusts
- Cellulose (paper)
- Charcoal
- Coal
- Coke (petroleum)
- Cork
- Lampblack
- Lignite
- Soot
