Dust Hazards Analysis (DHA) of a Grain Storage, Drying, and Milling Facility

Project Synopsis

Project Summary

The client operates an ethanol manufacturing facility which uses corn as the feedstock. The client receives, stores, and mills the corn before using it to manufacture ethanol. The facility also takes the spent corn from the ethanol process and dries it, creating dried distillers grains (DDGS) which are stored and discharged. Process Engineering Associates, LLC (PROCESS) provided engineers experienced in process engineering as well as process safety and risk management who were part of a Dust Hazards Analysis (DHA) team for the client. The DHA helped the client meet the DHA requirements of NFPA 61. The following tasks were included as part of the DHA:

• Walkdown of the facility to generate ‘as-built’ Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs) of the grain receiving, storage, drying, and milling processes/areas.
• An engineering review was completed that evaluated the fire, deflagration, and explosion hazards and provided recommendations to manage the hazards.
• The team then performed a hazard review meeting of the processes at the facility. The objective of the hazard review was to identify and evaluate the process or facility areas where fire, flash fire, and explosion hazards exist. PROCESS documented the hazard review to reasonably fulfill all pertinent regulatory requirements.

The following processes, equipment and program evaluations were included in the scope of the DHA:

• Truck and Railcar Loading / Unloading
• Material Transfer Conveyors: including Bucket Elevators, Drag, Belt, and Screw Conveyors, and Spouts.
• Grain Bins
• DDGS Storage Building
• DDGS Drying System
• Milling Process
• Dust Collection
• Employee Training
• Housekeeping
• Preventative Maintenance
• Hazard Monitoring and Alarms
• Emergency Response.

Industry Type

Utilized Skills

• 'As-Built' P&ID generation
• Dust hazards engineering review
• Formal DHA meeting facilitation and participation.