An inherent safety framework for dust explosion prevention and mitigation

Inherent safety is a proactive approach for hazard/risk management during process plant design and operation. Although it offers an attractive and cost-effective methodology for risk reduction, inherent safety has not been used as widely as engineered (add-on) and procedural measures. The current work is an attempt to bring the use of inherent safety principles into the mainstream of process safety management, with particular emphasis on dust explosion prevention and mitigation. Existing frameworks for selecting prevention and protection measures are reviewed. Examples are given of inherent, engineered and procedural safeguards identified in these schemes. A framework is proposed for dust explosion prevention and mitigation based on the hierarchy of examining inherently safer options first (i.e. before add-on and procedural safeguards).