Explosion protection: safety in grinding plants

Working to ensure safe plants

For many companies, explosion protection is a matter to be taken seriously. Businesses that produce cereal, wood or animal feed products are particularly affected. This is because these industries produce ‘combustible dusts’ which can very easily lead to explosions. If a dust explosion occurs inside the mill, it’s crucial that the resulting overpressure be controlled, and flames prevented from escaping. However, structural dust explosion protection only works reliably if the components are professionally coordination to work together with one another. This is where Tietjen comes in.

Thanks to our in-house research into, and development of, pressure release systems, we have played a role in ensuring that facilities are safer today. All our mills are explosion-proof and resistant to flame puncture. They have an EC declaration of compliance in accordance with ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU.

How does a controlled explosion work?

If there is an explosion inside the mill, a rotary valve blocks the flames from spreading from the hammer mill to the discharge system. The rotary valves are used to discharge dusts, chips and fibrous transport materials, and also function as a shut-off device. Tietjen uses rotary valves as type-tested protection systems for explosion decoupling that are resistant against ignition and flame puncture. If there is a subsequent overpressure situation, the mill’s downstream containers and top filter are opened by release valves (without any flames escaping, in order to protect the containers).
The aspiration valve – part of the air gravity separator (AGS) –prevents flames from spreading from the hammer mill to the surroundings.

Finally, if operation is interrupted, the safety runner decouples the interior of the mill from the upstream container. The safety runner reacts to both the level sensor in the upstream container and to any power outage. The discharge and conveyor devices are just as vital for the availability and operational safety of dedusting plants as the ventilators and filter systems. Extraction, filtration and materials discharge thus constitute a single unit.

How safe is your plant?

In order to develop a safe explosion protection concept, a wide range of influencing factors need to be taken into account right from the start. Our Tietjen team will support you right from the start, and will always on hand to answer any questions about dust explosion protection issues. It makes no difference whether it’s a question of inspecting and analysing your plant, or developing a safety concept together. Together with our long-term partners, we develop protocols and work instructions to help you with documentation and make your plant safer.

If you would like to learn more about our dust explosion protection options, please feel free to contact Markus Eckert at m.eckert@tietjen-original.com.