Firefighters Dispatched to Furnace Fire..

On occasion foreign material has been placed in aluminium furnaces resulting in catastrophes. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has a recent incident where plastic was placed into a furnace, fortunately no one was injured. Here's the story.

The Lafayette Fire Department was called just after 8 a.m. one morning during the week of January 19, 2014 to the Alcoa Aluminum Plant in Lafayette, Indiana, USA for a fire that started in an industrial oven.

According to local Battalion Chief, pieces of plastic were mistakenly put into the oven causing it to ignite.

The fire was extinguished before crews arrived and started clearing the scene around 8:20.

Plastic is only one of many unacceptable or restricted scrap contents. Other unacceptable items are:

• Fertilizers and other materials containing nitrates, sulfates or other oxidizing agents; salt fluxes contaminated with nitrates, sulfates or oxidizers, and any unknown powder
• Water, snow or ice in excess of plant processing capabilities.
• Volatile substances in excess of plant processing capabilities.
• Closed containers, crimped tubing, aerosol cans, automobile air bag inflation cartridges, ammunition cartridges, fire extinguishers, freon tanks, oxygen and acetylene cylinders, detonators and similar objects.
• Aluminium fines in excess of plant processing capabilities.
• Heavily oxidized metal in excess of plant processing capabilities.
• Hydrocarbons (e.g., oil, flammable liquids) in excess of plant processing capabilities.
• PCBS or other toxic materials at levels which constitute or create a health hazard.
• Radioactive materials.
• Aluminium-lithium alloys unless specified.

The Aluminum Association (USA) has developed a great publication that is recommended for any plant that receives scrap. The publication can be found here.

The Health and Safety Executive has some useful information on preventing fire and explosions which can be viewed here.

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