A key concern in facilities working with flammable liquids and powders is the initiation of a flash fire or explosion by electrostatic discharges. A flammable atmosphere is created when a critical amount of a fuel (flammable vapor/gas/aerosol/ and/or dust) is mixed with air. Ignition of flammable atmospheres can occur when the energy of the ignition source exceeds the minimum ignition energy of the flammable atmosphere under specific process condition.
This presentation discusses the nature of electrostatic ignition hazards and the practical measures that can be considered to prevent/control them based on the requirements of NFPA 77, Recommended Practice on Static Electricity.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Attendees will learn how electrostatic charge is generated in industrial environments
2. Attendees will learn how to recognize those electrostatic hazards that can trigger industrial fires and explosions
3. Attendees will learn how to choose methods to evaluate and control electrostatic charge in order to reduce or eliminate flash fire and explosion hazards
Attendees will earn 1 PDH of continuing education credit
Scheduled Speaker:
Vahid Ebadat, PhD
CEO Stonehouse Process Safety, Inc.
Vahid Ebadat Ph.D., M.Inst.P, MIET, C.Phys. is CEO of Stonehouse Process Safety, Inc. He has worked extensively as a process safety consultant for the chemical, pharmaceutical, food, paper, wood, and other process industries globally for over 30 years. Dr. Ebadat has published many technical articles and papers and is a regular speaker on process safety topics, including dust explosion, static electricity, gas & vapor flammability, and thermal decomposition, self-heating hazard assessment and control. Dr. Ebadat is a member of NFPA 77 Technical Committee on Static Electricity.
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