Protecting the plant from catastrophic combustible dust explosions
The issue of dust explosions has been a hot topic since the early 20 century. In a book published by the NFPA in 1922, titled Dust Explosions, the authors, David J. Price and Harold H. Brown, acknowledge the need for a vacuum that can withstand the rigors of an industrial environment stating that despite every precaution to capture dust at the source, small amounts of it “will get out into the atmosphere of the mill and gather on floors, walls and ledges.”
The authors of the book knew then, as it still stands today, “if there is no accumulation of dust and the plant is perfectly clean, the explosion cannot propagate and the plant will not be destroyed.”