Combustible wood dust explosions and impacts on environments and health - A review

Xihe Zhou; Xiaoxu Li; Zhongwen Cui; Lin Wu; Handong Zhou; Xiaoning Lu

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.114658

Combustible wood dust explosions and impacts on environments and health - A review

Environ Res. 2023 Jan 1;216(Pt 3):114658. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114658. Epub 2022 Oct 29.

Authors

Xihe Zhou¹, Xiaoxu Li², Zhongwen Cui³, Lin Wu¹, Handong Zhou⁴, Xiaoning Lu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210037, China.
² Research Institute of Wood Industry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, China.
³ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210037, China; Dare Wood Based Panel Group Co., Ltd., Danyang, Jiangsu, 212300, China.
⁴ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210037, China. Electronic address: hdzhou@njfu.edu.cn.
⁵ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210037, China. Electronic address: luxiaoning-nfu@126.com.

PMID: 36374653
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114658

Abstract

Wood dust is the major wastes from timber and wood-based panel processing, including wood sawing, sanding, chipping, flaking, etc., which easily causes fire and explosions. The fine wood dust had risks of inhaling the dust air, causing problems to the respiratory system of workers, as well as the explosive risk of the wood dust-air mixture. Wood dust explosions occur worldwide, which have caused massive damages to equipment, buildings, and environments, killed people, and threatened human health. This study was aimed at exploring the causes, affecting factors, mechanisms, models of wood dust explosions, and their environmental/health impacts through reviewing and analyzing the collected data in order to minimize wood dust explosion risks by improving of safety procedures in the wood processing industry. To better understood and prevent wood dust explosion cases in the future, this review collected the explosion reports and analyzed the accident information through the following aspects: 1) Summarization of published review articles regarding wood dust explosions in Introduction, 2) Scrutinization of wood dust explosion cases and design of testing device, 3) Exploration of effects of wood dust properties and surrounding conditions on explosion and their mechanisms, 4) Investigation of methods for reducing wood dust explosion risks, 5) Modeling and simulation of wood dust explosions, 6) Examination of environmental and health impacts of wood dust explosions. Finally, the findings in this review were summarized in Conclusions. By collecting dust explosion reports, reviewing literature, and analyzing the collected data, wood dust explosions can be better understood. The results of this study can be useful for the design of equipment and dust absorption systems, as well as further suggestion of safety improvement procedures to minimize or eliminate risks of wood dust-related fire and explosion in the wood processing industry and mitigate its impacts on environments and health.

Keywords: Combustion; Environment impact; Explosion; Human health; Wood dust.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Dust
Explosions / prevention & control
Fires*
Humans
Occupational Exposure*
Wood

Substances

Dust