What industrial process is there is a risk of fine powders exploding in air?

Question

the atucal question: Fine powders mixed in air can explode violently. Name an industrial process where there is a risk of this type of explosion.

Thanks :)

Answer 1

Just about anything can be made to explode in fine powder form, from baking wheat, to paint particles, the material is not the problem, static electricity is.

the build up of static charges on the particles is from friction, and at some point (different for all materials, ) a tipping point (cascade value) is reached, where the charges "flash over" (i.e. a sudden, discharge to earth), if the amount of material in a given volume is high enough, then  what happens next is that the discharge of one causes a chain reaction , each particle setting off two, or more, of its neighbours, simultaneously, in rapid succession, this grows almost instantly, and in a confined area will almost certainly cause a devastating explosion. even a water fountain can be made to go bang if you know how, ! I am not going to disclose any way to do this, because I do not know you, and do not want to find myself blamed if an experiment goes wrong, but as a matter of safety, if you must work with this type of thing make sure that EVERYTHING is connected to an earth wire, that is connected to the earth !!!

Answer 2

Coal mining, wood mills and grain silos come to mind .

Good luck