The reason why industrial safety should be taken very seriously is because anything destructive can happen anytime like in terms of an explosion which can be a serious threat to life and machinery but this can be prevented when safety devices are in place, namely explosion vent panels. The reason why explosion venting requirements are given serious consideration is because of two reasons – 1. Strict regulations are put in place by a variety of government bodies across the globe, and 2. A company’s business might get affected to a serious extent when something goes wrong, both financially and in terms of reputation as well.
A good company knows very well that in order to lead a business successfully, one can never ever afford to lose the reputation in the hearts of its customers and clients. And a company’s reputation with its customers and clients not just lies in the quality of the products it produces but also in how effectively it follows the set standards and regulations laid by authorities to ensure industrial safety. Furthermore, a good company will never ever neglect its valuable assets which are, firstly the human resource and secondly, the machinery used for manufacturing.
Any engineering-based manufacturing company is highly prone to explosion-based accidents which can lead to heavy life loss and damage to the company’s fixed or movable assets and this is why safety devices such as explosion vent panels are considered to be very valuable. Let us now look at the top 3 reasons for the installation of explosion vent panels and how they provide and ensure industrial safety to protect human lives and machinery inside a facility.
Let us first answer the most basic question out of all which is – what is explosion venting? As the name suggests, explosion venting is the process by which, when an explosion occurs at an industrial plant due to unforeseen circumstances inside a particular system of an industrial plant, the flame is guided through a venting mechanism to the atmosphere or open space in order to prevent damages. This will now lead you to ask the next basic question which is – how will an explosion happen inside an industrial plant? Almost every engineering-based manufacturing plant or facility will have systems that will include an area called the dust collectors. Now this is the portion or the part where the dust obtained during or after the manufacturing process is collected to be processed in order to ensure it is disposed into the open space without any toxic substances or behavior. But inside the dust collector, there is a high probability for a flammable mixture to be present as part of the dust which when interacting or reacting with each other can cause an explosion. This is where explosion venting comes in to save valuable assets from severe damage. When an explosion is sensed by the system near the dust collector, the flame is made to pass through a duct where at the end, the explosion vent panels are installed, will open up in order to pass the flame through to the atmosphere. This way, the flame doesn’t circulate or build up more inside the system or equipment which might lead to a massive bursting process eventually causing a catastrophe. The venting process involves two types of methods and let us get to know about them below.
As already explained earlier to answer the question of – what is explosion venting, we saw one method which is to allow the flame to pass through a duct using sensors and spreading the flame out to the atmosphere or open space. This is done using flame vents or explosion vent panels. The other method is called flame quench or also known as flameless venting. Now, you might have made a guess already thinking about a system or a process that will involve dousing the fire. If so, then you are totally right! Flame quench or flameless venting means to douse the fire even before it passes through the explosion vent panels into the atmosphere or open space. But how is it done? Well, the duct or the piping system involves another safety device in place which is called a flame arrestor. The flame arrestor is another industrial safety device that looks like a filter made in the form of a mesh which filters out the flame part from the explosion and allows only the gas to pass through. Also, this flame arrestor does not allow the gas or the flammable components present in the gas back to the source which might then cause a secondary explosion due to ignition which can prove to be catastrophic.
This method of flameless venting is done only when an industrial plant’s construction doesn’t support the earlier process of allowing the flame into open space due to hygiene and safety reasons or if the structural design of the constructed industrial facility doesn’t allow it.
People on a general note might think that installation of so-called safety devices such as explosion vent panels might demand a heavy cost because they are used to safeguard human lives and machines inside a plant. But on the contrary, it is not true and more importantly, it can be said in all fairness that when installed along with the building design, the installation of explosion vent panels can be cheaper. Yes, you read that right. When an industrial plant is being designed on paper that precedes the construction phase, the design for satisfying the explosion venting requirements should also be thought about and included in the plan accordingly. The reason for this to happen during the building planning stage is that, if at all the industrial plant is to install a flame vent, then the side on which the vent is going to be installed should be facing an open space which will not involve any human presence or product transportation. Because, in case of an explosion, then the vent will pass the flame outside through it so that the valuable assets inside the plant can be protected.
So, this pretty much involves how the building is being constructed and hence should be thought about during the building planning stage as demolishing a particular side of a building and rebuilding it later can prove to be costly and yes, it is unnecessary expenditure due to poor planning.
The last reason to have explosion vent panels as a part of the industrial plant’s systems is that one can never ever play the judging game based on probabilities when it comes to human life and machine safety. Be it a newly constructed industrial plant or the one that has been in existence for many years operating perfectly, an explosion inside an industrial system is a very high probability that can never be written off. But in order to nullify that probability and safeguard the valuable assets of a company to the maximum extent possible is the ultimate purpose of using such safety devices, especially the explosion vent panels. This rule holds very true as industrial safety is a topic that can never be taken lightly because you can never judge or predict when an explosion might or will happen, can you?
Apart from calling the above-mentioned points as reasons, they can be termed as golden rules as well when it comes to ensuring industrial safety. Especially, when the probability of an explosion breaking out is very high inside an industrial plant, it is only wise to have these vents or panels installed in order to satisfy the explosion venting requirements. On the other side of the coin, if it is not done, it could then turn out to be highly preposterous in the face of adversity, because damaged machinery can be repaired or replaced but the lost lives will be gone forever!
Varem Technical Solutions is a registered Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Company that has its prime focus in the domain of manufacturing and supplying devices which are used in ensuring safe operations at Mechanical Engineering based industries.
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