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Author: Veress Árpád · Explosion-protection expert"It Has Always Been Like This": A Zone 22 Sugar Plant Use Case
A site walk through a Zone 22 area of a sugar plant: ordinary lighting, ordinary switches and sockets, thick dust layers and housekeeping done with a standard vacuum cleaner. The answer on site was that it has always been like this and there has never been a dust explosion. This use case works through six barriers a Head of Operations should check before accepting that answer, from the basis of the classification to whether the cleaning method itself introduces ignition or dispersion hazards. The underlying point: an EPD and a zone drawing in a folder are not the same as a demonstrated safe condition in live operation.
🌎Head of Operations asked me to come up with a…
…USE CASE: “Nothing has happened yet.”
A sugar plant. Zone 22.
During a site walk we found:
• ordinary lighting
• ordinary switches and sockets
• significant layers of sugar dust throughout the area
• housekeeping carried out with ordinary vacuum cleaners
“It has always been like this. We have never had a dust explosion.”
A Head of Operations perspective: “Can I demonstrate that this plant is currently being operated within its defined Ex-safe condition?”
Barriers:
Hazardous Area Classification
If the area is classified Zone 22, what is the basis of the classification? Is it still representative of actual operating and housekeeping conditions?
Equipment suitability
Are electrical and non-electrical ignition sources suitable for the hazardous area and the relevant dust characteristics?
Dust accumulation
Visible layers of combustible dust are not just a housekeeping issue. They can change the actual risk picture and provide fuel for secondary explosions.
Cleaning method
Is the vacuum-cleaning equipment suitable for the environment and the combustible dust being collected? Could the cleaning activity itself introduce ignition or dust-dispersion hazards?
Inspection and Ex Register
Are these deviations identified, recorded, assessed and prioritized - or have they simply become accepted normality?
Operational decision
Which conditions can remain temporarily in service? Which require immediate mitigation? Which require STOP / restriction until the Ex-safe condition can be demonstrated?
The Head of Operations has a critical role.
They do not need to personally be the hazardous-area-classification expert, equipment-certification expert or combustible-dust specialist, they need the competence, tools, technical support and authority to ask: “Can we safely continue operating?”
Operational Ex is about keeping the demonstrated safe condition alive during real operation - not only having an EPD and a Zone drawing somewhere in the documentation.