Dust and other explosions

[Aidan]

It's certainly something I'll be warning my children about.

I have heard of explosions at custard factories, probably because they use cornflour. Also at grain silos.

Could you do that expermient with the corn flour in a dunnage warehouse where whisky is stored?

[Muskrat Portage]

...Could you do that experiment with the corn flour in a dunnage warehouse where whisky is stored?

I assume the wharehouse man would bodily eject anyone trying to set it up.
I know that here we had a 5 Roses flour mill at one time which burnt down very spectacularly in the 60's, in part due to the amount of flour dust accumulation. Also, that workers that swept out the grain silos in Fort William had to be careful about static electricity and the concern of wearing a mask against grain dust and the added risk of possible silicosis later in life.
Industrial areas that are prone to dust accumulation of any sort can be hazardous worksites. The video was pretty interesting and very illustrative of this fact, so don't try it at home.
Muskrat

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

if you sprinkle finely gound pepper into the flame of a candle some of the fine flakes will ignite and burn. But it is more like little sparks than a full blown explosion. One can well imagine what a dust explosion in a mill or in a coal mine can do, though.
But the explosion of alcohol vapours in a warehouse would need a very hot ignition source if you find a concentration of alcohol that is high enough in the air of a warehouse at all. Burning warehouses down needs the casks themselves to be burst open and then it is the alcohol that burns. And that that is the case is a very good thing. Let´s us sleep so much easier to now the stuff is save.

Greetings
kallaskander

[Di Blasi]

Wow, easy and fun! Ardbeg should've used it in their latest 1965 add! Poooof, and there it is, just like the beginning of time!