CTA Report, Draft 1, ISP Review - US Chemical Safety and Hazard ...
CTA Report, Draft 1, ISP Review - US Chemical Safety and Hazard ...
CTA Report, Draft 1, ISP Review - US Chemical Safety and Hazard ...
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As depicted in Figure 11 (Eckhoff, 2003):<br />
Figure 11. Burning increases with increasing surface area.<br />
• A large piece of wood burns slowly, releasing heat over a long period of time.<br />
• When the wood is cut into smaller pieces, ignition is easier <strong>and</strong> the pieces burn faster because<br />
the total contact surface area between the wood <strong>and</strong> air has increased.<br />
• When the wood pieces are further cut, ground into a fine powder, suspended in air as a<br />
confined dust cloud, <strong>and</strong> ignited, the dust burns very rapidly <strong>and</strong> may explode.<br />
The phenolic resin powders <strong>CTA</strong> used—which provided fuel for the fire <strong>and</strong> explosions—are<br />
combustible dusts. They have a particle size of 10 to 50 microns in diameter, similar to talcum (baby)<br />
powder. Table 1 lists the particle sizes for some commonly known materials.<br />
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