Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-11-11

wv explosions from a bewildering va
riety of causes and almost all sorts
of dust continue to worry manufacturers and
the government. Since the method of col
lecting dust in factories, supposedly a real
safeguard, caused an explosion, chemists in
government and private laboratories are
hunting more anxiously than ever for sou-
tiOns to the dust danger.
1t has for some years been understood that
grain dust suspended in sufficient quantities
in the atmosphere might cause an explosion
! if a match were ligEted or a spark of cleo
tr1city released. Lately, however, dust from
sugar, chocolate, rubber Fertilizer starch,
paper, and other materials has proved ex-
! losive. campaign again. carelessness in
dusty grain elevators and flour mills has cut
down the number of accidents there, but at
a recent conference on dust explosions it was
shown that in tho 2 months preceding there
had been at least seven serious explosions in
other kinds of factories, in which at least 80
people were killed, and 100000 worth of
property destroyed.
The bureau of chemistry in the depart
ment of agriculture says that it Areceives
many samples of dust from manufacturers
who want to know if the particular kind of
dust set loose in their plants is dangerous.
| The prevailing tendency is for the factory
owner to think that his plant is immune, but
so far tests have shown that every kind
of dust submitted except inert dust-that is,
| nelly ground lime or rockville explode if
efficiently concentrated, and ignited The
reason lOr CnlS IS simply explained by the
bureau of chemistry as follows:
eve might try~ror some time to burn a
block of wood with lighted match If we
take knife nd chip the block the shavings
will ignite more quickly. We might make
excelsior and find it would ignite still more
rapidly, and then continue by gradual reduc-
ton to degree of tneness until dust is pro-
duced, when it is found that the mass will
burn rapidly when in suspension and diff
fused in the air. The rate of burning is so
apid that violent explosion may result"
In short, anything that will burn as a solid
material will burn when reduced to the form
| of powder or dust. There is no way entirely
| to eliminate this dust from a product, and
scientific test have show that very small
amount suspended in the air is sufficient to
Istart an explosion if brought into contact
with fire.
The main safeguards so far proposed are
to have dust collected by special apparatus,
and to keep it from ,iling up where it can
serve as a fuse. Special window construction
for factories is suggested by one engineer to
allow the plant to be regularly flooded with
air in order to remove dust and freshen the
atmosphere. Workmen and managers are
being gradually taught to safeguard their
own lives by observing precautions. Once
| it was a common thing for workman in
-four mill to carry lighted match into
dim and dusty flour bin. When an explosion
occurred, it was attributed to spontaneous
combustion, and not to the fact of flame
tory workers are learning never to smoke or
carry matches about plant, to keep d.
from accommodating on beams, machines, pull
Ileys, and floors, and never to use an open
flame in a dusty place.
Even in factories where smoking is abso-
jlutely forbidden as a fire prevention measure,
an open flame, such as acetylene torch, is
used without thought of danger. How ex-
tremely hazardous this is the government eX-
plosion experts have difficulty in proving to
Pnt no of tboiy
ments and warnings was plainly demonstrate
led last fall when an explosion occurred in a
mill due to dust being ignited by the intense
heat from an acetylene torch.
So slight cause as dust collected on an
electric light bulb may start fire, and then
an explosion, if the heat from the bulb ig
mites the dust, and the globe breaks. This
has happened, and it set the electric light
companies to work devising safety globes
for dusty factories. Experiments testing the
safety of electric light fixtures are still being
conducted. A vapor-proof bulb with an I'M
breakable metal guard is being installed in
many factories as precaution against the
danger from broken bulbs.
! Some Investigations are still Sing forward
in the government, though the bureau Of
chemistry has no longer any funds to con-
itinue it's work in this field DR.. Alsberg,
chief of the bureau, said at the recent con-
ference that il spite of lack of funds his bu-
reau would not give up the work entirely.
eve always have little money that we can
squeeze out here or there" he concluded,
but about the best that we can hope during
the next year is to keep the work alive and
lido some of the fundamental research that
has to be done, so that if we are ever able
Ito take it up again we will not have
marked time
The campaign waged by the bureau of
dentistry, together with the grain corpora
ion, has brought about greater concern on
the part of tht manufacturers, but explosions
still occur. Since last autumn there have
been several -four mill explosions one with
I$125,000 property loss, a grain elevator ex-
plosion with IA men killed, and another with
hree injured. Four firemen, fighting a
blaze in a spice mill were killed last winter
when spice dus" exploded from the fire, and
other fir5men were injured.
Six Girls Killed
Most terrible of all was the aluminium dust
xplosion which several months ago killed six
girls in the polishing room Of an aluminium
products factory, and burned five others so
terribly that they will be Scared and injured
for life. This accident seemed all the more
Ia disaster because it was started by a piece |
Iof wire becoming tangled in the machinery
for disposing of the dust from the polishing.
IA spark struck and the dust ignited, |
causing a terrible explosion Because of
this accident, several improvements in the
Idust-collecting systems were suggested.
The country in general was first aroused
Ito the havoc a little dust may cause back |
lin 1917. An elevator blew up, just after the
United States entered the war and enough |
grain was destroyed by that one explosion
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