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Is your plant safe? Regulations and Risk Assessment in the Food Industry

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Reading time: 4 minutos

Food and beverage production in the food industry involves processes in which flammable substances are used, handled or produced in the form of dust (e.g. flour, sugar, grain, etc.) and in the form of gas and/or steam (e.g. ethanol). In addition, the supply of the energy required to carry out such feedstock processing processes can be produced through the use of other types of flammable substances in the form of gas and/or steam (e.g. natural gas, hydrogen, etc.).

The risk of explosion, therefore, is permanently present and with it comes the need to avoid the possibility of an explosion and/or mitigate its consequences. To achieve this objective, the main existing international standards establish the performance of an ‘Explosion Risk Assessment‘ as one of the main measures. This evaluation is carried out by means of the so-called ‘Explosion Protection Document’ or DPCE through the European ATEX Directives or the ‘Dust Hazard Analysis’ or DHA through the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) standards.

What do the regulations really say about explosions in the food industry?

A proper explosion risk assessment should determine what the explosion prevention and/or protection measures should be necessary to minimize the possibility of an accident in order to achieve a safe facility. To this end, the use of international standards of recognized prestige must be considered:

  • European standards (EN standards), derived from international IEC standards and reaching those related to the classification of ATEX zones (EN 60079-10-1 and 2), evaluation of ignition sources (EN 1127-1), explosion vent protection systems (EN 14491) and technical reports (CEN/TR 16829 on prevention and protection in bucket elevators).
  • VDI standards (German standards), such as those relating to the prevention and protection against explosions in baghouses and bucket elevators (VDI 2263).
  • NFPA standards (American standard), among which we can highlight the one dedicated to the prevention and/or protection of fire and explosion in solids handling industries (NFPA 654), or the one dedicated to the prevention and/or protection of fires and explosions in the agricultural and food industry (NFPA 61).

These regulations are not optional or generic: they apply directly to combustible dust processes such as pneumatic conveying, screening, grinding or drying.

Assessing risk well is the key, where do I start?

Risk analysis does not start or end on a plane with ATEX zones. It is a technical process that allows you to anticipate incidents and make decisions based on evidence.

Under these standards, the steps of a comprehensive risk assessment should be as follows:

  1. Identify the flammable substances used in the process and obtain their explosive parameters (Minimum Ignition Energy, Minimum Ignition Temperature, Minimum Explosive Concentration, etc.), e.g. through direct tests by a certified laboratory or through existing databases (e.g. BIAS GESTIS DUST-EX).
  2. Establish the frequency and duration of the occurrence of an explosive atmosphere according to the process conditions (ATEX zone classification), e.g. by applying the EN 60079-10-1 and 2 or VDI standards.
  3. Evaluate the occurrence and effectiveness of ignition sources in the process (hot surfaces, mechanical sparks, electrostatic discharges, electrical sparks, etc.), e.g. by using the EN 1127-1 standard.
  4. Obtain the resulting level of risk using existing methodologies (e.g. RASE2000).
  5. Establish the necessary explosion prevention and/or protection measures to reduce the level of risk to a level acceptable to the user, through the use of standards such as CEN/TR 16829 for bucket elevators or NFPA standards.

Recommended prevention and protection measures

In the food industry there are different processes on which to apply the risk assessment methodology, among which the following stand out:

  1. Reception and storage of raw materials: It can be made of granular materials (barley, malt, corn, etc.) or powdered materials such as flour, sugar, spices, etc.
  2. Cleaning process: used for granular materials by using equipment such as wipers and screens.
  3. Grinding process: Usually used for granular materials by using mills.
  4. The process of mixing powdered materials, for which equipment such as weighing scales and mixers are used.
  5. Drying process with the aim of lowering the moisture level of the product: it can be used for granular materials or for powder materials.

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