Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-11-09
DEADLY DUST
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN

of dust continue & worry manufac-
turers and the government. Since
the method of collecting dust in
factories, supposedly a real safe
guard. caused an explosion, chem
ists in government and private lab
| oratories are hunting more anxious
lv than ever for solutions to the dust
| danger.
II has for some years been under
stood that grain dust suspended In
! sufficient quantities in the atmos-
4 phere might cause an explosion IL
a match were lighted or a spark of
| electricity released. Lately. how
ever, dust from sugar. chocolate,
rubber, fertilizer, starch. paper and
| other materials has proved explo-
sive. A campaign against Careless
ness in dusty grain elevators and
-four mills has cut down the number
OF accidents there. but at a recent
conference on dust explosions 1t
was shown that In the twelve
months preceding there had been at
| least seven serious explosions In
least eighty people were killed, and
81, 900. 900 worth of property de-
stroyed.
The Bureau of Chemistry in the
| Department of Agriculture says that
it receives many samples of dust
from manufacturers who want to
know IL the particular kind of dust
set loose in their plants Is danger
Gus. 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, finely ground lime or rockville
explode If sufficiently concentrated,
and ignited.
The reason for this is simply ex-
planned by the Bureau OF Chemistry
as follows:
Why Dust Explodes.
I'VE might try for some time to
burn a block of wood with a lighted
match. II we take a knife and chip
the block the shavings will ignite
more quickly. We might make ex-
celsior and find 1t would ignite still
more rapidly and then continue by
gradual reduction to a degree of
fineness Until lust is produced, when
1t Is found that the mass will burn
rapidly when in suspension and diff
fused in the air. The rate of burn
ing is so rapid hat q violent explo-
sion 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 q product,
and scientific tests have shown that
a very small amoun suspended In
the air is sufficient to start an explo-
sion IL brought into contact with fire.
The main safeguards so far pro-
posed are to nave dust collected by
nnntnV ~ ~ ON AZ
from piling up where it can serve
as n fuse. Special window construc-
lion for factories is suggested by one
engineer to allow the plant to be
regularly flooded with air in order
to remove the dust and freshen the
atmosphere. Workmen and mana
gers are being gradually taught to
safeguard their own lives by observ-
ing precautions. Once it was a
common thing for a workman in a
flour mill to carry a lighted match
into a dim and dusty -four bin. When
an explosion occurred, 1t was attrib-
uted to spontaneous combustion, and
not to the fact of flame and dust be-
ing brought together. Now, factory
workers are learning never to
smoke or carry matches about a
plant to keep dust from accumulat-
ing an beams machines, pulleys
and floors, and never to use an open
flame in q dusty place.
Even in factories where smoking
Is absolutely forbidden as a fire pre-
vention measure, an open flame.
such as ~acetylene torch, is used
without thought of danger. How
extremely hazardous this is the Gov
ernment explosion experts have diff
fculty In proving to workers. But
the soundness of their arguments
and warnings was plainly demon
strated last fall when an explosion
occurred in a mill due to dust being
ignited by the intense heat from an
acetylene torch.
Electric Bulbs a Cause.
So slight a cause as dust collect
ed on an electric light bulb may
start a fire, and then an explosion,
ii the heat from the bulb ignitcs
the dust. and the globe breaks. This
has happened, and 1t set the electric
light companies to work devIsing
safety of electric light fixtures are
still being conducted. A vapor-proof
bulb with an unbreakable metal
guard is being installed in many
factories as a precaution against the
danger from broken bulbs.
Some Investigations are still going
" ~ III tIlC AOtcTIIIleuL lnOuRn
the Bureau of Chemistry. has no
longer any funds to continue its
work in this field. DR.. Alsberg,
chief of the bureau, said at the re-
cent conference that in spite of lack
OF funds his bureau would not give
up the work entirely. I'VE always
have a little money that we can
squeeze out here or there" he con-
Guided, but about the best that we
can hope during the next year is
to keep the work alive and do some
or the fundamental research that
has to be done. so hat if we are
ever able take it up again we
Will not have marked time"
The campaign waged by he Bu-
reau of chemistry, together with
the Grain Corporation, has brought
about great concern on the part
OF h manufacturers, but explo-
sions still occur. Since last autumn
there have been several flour mill
explosions, n with $125,0OO prop
erty loss, a grain elevator explo-
sion with fourteen men killed and
another with three men injured.
Four firemen. fighting a blaze in a
spice mill were killed last winter
when spice dust exploded from the
fire. and thirteen other firemen were
injured.
Six Girls Killed.
Mos terrible of all was the alum
mum dust explosion which several
months 6 killed six girls in the
polishing ROOF of al aluminium pro-
ducts factory. and burned five others
so terribly that they will be Scared
and injured for life. This accident
seemed all the more a disaster be-
cause it was started by a piece of
wire becoming tangled in the ma
chinery for disposing of the dust
from the polishing. A spark was
struck and the dust ignited, caus-
mig u terrlDIe eXplOSlOn. RecauSa