Sand Blast Booth with an Outdoor dust collector

[B-inspector]

All, I have a exisiting sand blast booth (shipping Container modified) inside a building with a dust collector outside feed by a 8'' duct. The booth has no existing hazardous location equipment (except for sealed lighting inside) on the inside or outside we are up grading out equipment. The compound used for the blasting process is an Aluminum bead. Not much found in OSHA or the NEC for this specific process. Whats your view?

 

[petersonra]

All, I have a exisiting sand blast booth (shipping Container modified) inside a building with a dust collector outside feed by a 8'' duct. The booth has no existing hazardous location equipment (except for sealed lighting inside) on the inside or outside we are up grading out equipment. The compound used for the blasting process is an Aluminum bead. Not much found in OSHA or the NEC for this specific process. Whats your view?

View on what?

The weather is rather cold here. It has been below zero for 5 days in a row. My view is that is very cold.

I digress. Presumably you are asking if the inside of the booth should be declared a classified area.

I would ask why would it be? It's possible that some combination of the media used and the material being blasted might create some potential for small conductive metal particles to be formed so that it might have to be classified as some kind of Class II area due to conductive dust.

I have seen a bunch of such blasting tunnels over the years and never seen much of anything in the way of electrical equipment inside them other than lights. They always seemed to be of a pretty serious fixture, but I don't know if that is to protect the environment from the electrical equipment, or vice versa.

My personal opinion is that it is unlikely that a normal blasting operation would be an issue, if for no other reason than there just is not likely to be much in the way of electrical equipment where there might be dust that is at issue.

 

[GoldDigger]

Will the product removed from the workpiece be hazardous or flammable?

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[don_resqcapt19]

Does the aluminum bead get converted into aluminum dust in the process? Aluminum dust is flammable, and if there is enough created in the blasting process, you could have a Class II area.

 

[gadfly56]

Does the aluminum bead get converted into aluminum dust in the process? Aluminum dust is flammable, and if there is enough created in the blasting process, you could have a Class II area.

Aluminum oxide is very hard, more than tungsten carbide, aluminum, not so much. I suspect that the OP is using "alumina" or aluminum oxide, Al₂O₃. Nothing I can think of during blasting operations would reduce the alumina to elemental aluminum and oxygen.

 

[B-inspector]

AL Bead

AL Bead

Thank you for your replys, first the Hazardous Material Team does dispose of the Aluminum Oxide bead, but they handle the trash too. So I went to the user and asked for the MSDS sheets which has a Harzard and Flamable Section. From what the testing from the MFG claims the Material is not flamable and requires no special handing or fire equipment. We will research further and keep you posted. SO the end result may be is a $1500 charge for test of the AL oxide bead. Dust explosion index is calculated by a (Kst) (Pmax) Value of Common Dust by 3rd party testing agencys.

 

[GoldDigger]

Thank you for your replys, first the Hazardous Material Team does dispose of the Aluminum Oxide bead, but they handle the trash too. So I went to the user and asked for the MSDS sheets which has a Harzard and Flamable Section. From what the testing from the MFG claims the Material is not flamable and requires no special handing or fire equipment. We will research further and keep you posted. SO the end result may be is a $1500 charge for test of the AL oxide bead. Dust explosion index is calculated by a (Kst) (Pmax) Value of Common Dust by 3rd party testing agencys.

Which is pretty insane, since aluminum oxide is not going to oxidize (burn) any further.
Explosive dusts cannot consist of non-flammable material.
Now something that is not very flammable as a solid can indeed be both flammable and explosive in the form of fine dust.
Aluminum oxide, not so much.

 

[gadfly56]

Thank you for your replys, first the Hazardous Material Team does dispose of the Aluminum Oxide bead, but they handle the trash too. So I went to the user and asked for the MSDS sheets which has a Harzard and Flamable Section. From what the testing from the MFG claims the Material is not flamable and requires no special handing or fire equipment. We will research further and keep you posted. SO the end result may be is a $1500 charge for test of the AL oxide bead. Dust explosion index is calculated by a (Kst) (Pmax) Value of Common Dust by 3rd party testing agencys.

As Goldigger said, save your money. There is no possible way alumina is going to present a flammable/dust explosion hazard. As far as oxidation, "it's gone about as fur as it kin go". No oxidation potential, no hazard. And the only reason for the Hazmat Team to be dealing with the used bead is if the stuff you're blasting is hazardous somehow.