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2075133 
Technical Report 
A Sugar Dust Explosion and Some Measures to Limit Its Consequences 
Geysen, WJ; Belmans, R; Scheys, L 
1987 
NIOSH/00224635 
Symposium on Industrial Dust Explosions 
10-13 
A dust explosion that occurred in a Belgian sugar refinery in October 1982 was described. The explosion occurred in the granulation building of the Tienen sugar factory where sugar with a 1% moisture content was being dried. The explosion ripped open two 50 ton aluminum silos, slightly damaged two stainless steel silos, ripped apart the three bucket elevators at the third level, damaged the dust collector and main suction pipe in the granulation building, and blew away or dented the metal panel walls and roof of the granulation building. Four people were killed and at least 20 were injured. Investigation of the accident indicated that the explosion developed in three phases: a small initial phase which created a larger dust cloud that exploded, which created a larger dust cloud which caused a bigger explosion, which in turn created a still larger dust cloud that was accompanied by a blast. The site of the original explosion could not be determined. Laboratory testing showed that the upper and lower explosive limits of the sugar dust clouds likely to have been involved in the explosion were 30 grams per cubic meter and 13.5 kilograms/cubic meter. The maximum absolute pressure developed during the explosion varied from 5.5 to 6.6 bar over the sugar dust concentration range of 600 to 2,000 grams/cubic meter. A program of preventive and protective measures designed to prevent similar explosions in the future was developed. These included maintaining a high standard of housekeeping, implementing an equipment maintenance program to minimize spark generation hazards, electrically grounding all equipment to prevent static electricity, prohibiting smoking inside the factory, requiring a permit for performing work that involved open flames and hot objects, and installing explosion vents in silos, bucket elevators, and dust collectors.