The windows shook, it was quite frightening. I thought it was an earthquake at first...'

Incidents involving auminium fine fires and explosions are no longer rare events. Is that due to the proliferation of the online news media? Or could it be because these instances are arising because of the growth of our industry. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog feels it is a combination of the both, the growth of our industry and the internet that makes local incidents become international stories. Nevertheless, there are still aluminium plants which fail to acknowledge the hazard involved in the accumulation of aluminium fines in their facilities. Here is a recent incident reinforcing the importance of aluminium dust/fine safety.

An explosion in a screening room at the Aluminium Powder Company (Alpoco) during the early hours one morning during the week of June 7, 2015 resulted in a section of the A55 highway in England being closed for a short time.

Fire and smoke were seen from nearby at 3.29am. The fire was brought under control by 5.21am. The emergency services were concerned of the risk of further explosions so the A55 was closed for a short time between.

Multiple agencies attended the site and, after safety checks, it was declared safe and roads were reopened, a police spokesman said.

A rapid response car and an ambulance were sent to the scene, but no-one was injured and so weren’t required.

A nearby resident that lives less than two kilometers away from the Alpoco site said “It woke myself and my wife up. The windows shook, it was quite frightening.

“I thought it was an earthquake at first.

“There was no damage but it certainly woke me up, I thought it might have been a plane breaking the sound barrier, it sounded like a sonic boom.”

The site remains closed but is expected to reopen sometime later today.

Alpoco produces aluminium powder, which is used in pastes, pigments, chemicals, metallurgy, refractory, propulsion, pyrotechnics, spray deposition and powder metallurgy.

As yet the Health and Safety Executive has not been informed of this incident. The company has 10 days to report an incident.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog is grateful that no one at this facility nor the emergency responders were injured in this explosions and fire. Because there were no injuries the APSB chose to the name the company in this post. If there were injuries or fatalities the company name and location would have been omitted.

Incidents involving aluminium fines have to be taken seriously. From recent catastrophes the spotlight has been shined upon this hazard. Many government safety organizations are now looking upon enacting regulations and oversight where before there were none. The vast majority of the plants in our industry successfully mitigate this hazard on a daily basis.

The Aluminium Times magazine had two articles about aluminium fine hazards.

The Aluminium Association (USA) has a great document; Guidelines for Handling Aluminum Fines dealing with the best safety practices. Which can be found here.

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