DAILY Ex - 29 SEPTEMBER 2026

⚡ DAILY Ex - 29 SEPTEMBER 2026

Explosion Protection | Operational Ex | Global Watch

Today has a particularly strong dust/explosion-protection angle: a fatal pyrotechnics-factory fire, a genuinely new ISO/IEC 80079 publication, POWTECH opening today with live dust explosions, large-scale hydrogen/explosion demonstrations at Spadeadam, and a practical lesson about explosion isolation.

▶️ KEY INCIDENT - 14 DEAD AT PYROTECHNICS FACILITY

CURRENT | Russia - 28 September

Fourteen people were reported killed yesterday after a major fire engulfed two buildings at a pyrotechnics facility in Kubrinsk, Yaroslavl region. One person was hospitalised, around 200 emergency personnel were deployed, and authorities opened a criminal investigation into possible industrial-safety violations. The cause has not yet been established.

https://www.streetinsider.com/Reuters/Fourteen%2Bkilled%2Bin%2Bfire%2Bat%2Bpyrotechnics%2Bfactory%2Bin%2BRussias%2BYaroslavl%2Bregion%2C%2BTASS%2Breports/27112908.html

The important Operations lesson is escalation.

initial fire → energetic material involved → explosions → structural damage → emergency response becomes significantly more difficult.

For plants handling combustible powders, flammables or reactive materials, emergency planning should also ask: “What can the first fire initiate next?”

That includes dust clouds, pressure vessels, cylinders, neighbouring equipment and inventories.

▶️ NEW STANDARD - ISO/IEC 80079-38:2026 PUBLISHED

CURRENT | IEC - 25 September

A genuinely fresh standards development: ISO/IEC 80079-38:2026, Explosive atmospheres - Part 38: Equipment and components in explosive atmospheres in underground mines, was published on 25 September. It replaces the 2016 first edition and is a technical revision.

https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/79914

The standard covers construction, testing and marking of Group I equipment, including assemblies of Ex Equipment and Ex Components, for EPL Ma and Mb. It can also provide guidance for underground applications such as tunnels where firedamp or coal dust may occur.

https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/79914

Why it matters operationally:

Mining machinery increasingly becomes a system of:

mechanical equipment + electrical equipment + sensors + controls + batteries + communications.

The Ex question therefore increasingly concerns the machine as an integrated assembly, not only its individual certified components.

https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/79914

▶️ POWTECH OPENS TODAY - EXPLOSION PROTECTION GOES LIVE

CURRENT EVENT | Germany - 29 September-1 October

POWTECH TECHNOPHARM 2026 opens today in Nuremberg.

Explosion protection has a substantial presence this year, including the IND EX Explosion Safety Forum and live demonstrations showing actual dust explosions and the operation of protective systems on production equipment.

https://www.cantonfair.net/event/58531-powtech-trade-fair

That matters because an explosion vent, flameless vent or isolation device can look deceptively simple on a drawing.

Seeing the event physically reinforces something important:

milliseconds matter.

Detection → activation → isolation → pressure relief must happen before flame and pressure propagate through interconnected plant.

Explosion protection is a dynamic system, not a collection of accessories.

Why it matters operationally:

People who work around hazardous areas every day can become accustomed to the words: flammable atmosphere // deflagration // overpressure // hydrogen explosion.

Large-scale testing reminds us what those words physically mean.

Competence improves when people understand consequence, not merely classification.

https://www.dnv.com/training/fire-and-explosions-hazards-training-course/

▶️ PROCESS SAFETY - HAZARDS AUSTRALASIA CONTINUES TODAY

CURRENT | Melbourne - 28–30 September

Hazards Australasia 2026 continues today at Marvel Stadium, bringing together process-safety professionals from Australia, New Zealand and internationally under the theme Innovate. Integrate. Impact.

https://www.icheme.org/knowledge-networks/knowledge-resources/safety-centre/news/hazards-australasia-2026-process-safety-conference/

For Ex professionals, integrate is the important word.

Explosion protection sits inside a much larger operating system: process safety → HAC → mechanical integrity → ignition control → functional safety → human factors → maintenance → emergency response.

A perfect Ex inspection cannot compensate for a process that is being operated outside its design assumptions.

▶️ RESEARCH - HYDROGEN EXPLOSION PRESSURE CAN MOVE FAR BEYOND THE “NORMAL” SCENARIO

RESEARCH | 2026

A recent study modelled hydrogen-air explosions inside the working chamber of an industrial vacuum-compression hydrogen furnace.

The researchers compared design and beyond-design scenarios and found very large differences in calculated equivalent static pressures — up to 16.3 bar in the design case and 84.8 bar in the beyond-design case under the model assumptions.

https://journals.rcsi.science/1996-8493/article/view/463928

The exact numbers are application-specific.

The Operations lesson is broader: What happens outside the design scenario?

Hydrogen concentration, initial pressure, confinement and ignition mode can radically alter consequence.

Risk assessment should therefore examine credible deviations, not only normal operation.

▶️ OPERATIONAL Ex USE CASE - NEW DUST COLLECTOR, SAME DUCTWORK

PRACTICAL

A factory replaces an old dust collector with a more efficient unit.

The new collector has explosion venting.

Job done?

Not necessarily.

Ask what connects to it: duct → cyclone → filter → fan → hopper → rotary valve → upstream machines.

If an explosion begins in the collector, flame and pressure may propagate through connected ductwork.

The key question becomes: Where is the explosion isolation?

Venting controls pressure inside the protected equipment.

Isolation addresses propagation into connected equipment.

Those are different protection functions.

▶️ GOOD ENGINEERING PRACTICE - FOLLOW THE EXPLOSION PATH

Take one dust collector today.

Start at the collector and physically follow every connection.

Then ask: If an explosion starts here, where can flame and pressure travel?

Upstream duct? Downstream duct? Hopper? Silo? Building interior? Another machine?

Then identify the barrier stopping each path.

Ask: “What exactly do those vents protect - and what do they not protect?”

▶️ TODAY'S Ex QUESTION

Choose one explosion-protection device: vent panel / flameless vent / suppression system / isolation valve / chemical isolation system.

Then ask Operations: “What tells us this device is ready to work today?”

Inspection status? Pressure sensor healthy? Isolation bottle charged? Vent unobstructed? Discharge area clear? Maintenance overdue?
Process conditions still inside design limits?

Explosion protection equipment can sit untouched for years.

Then it may have milliseconds to work correctly.

Daily Ex

An explosion-protection system is not successful because it is installed.

It is successful only if, on the one day it is needed, every barrier performs as designed.