In today’s episode of the Dust Safety Science podcast, we’re talking to Paul von Norden, Global ATEX expert for FrieslandCampina in the Netherlands, about how to become a global expert in explosion safety and protection.
Paul is a mechanical engineer who works with the ATEX Directive. There are two ATEX Directives in Europe, one for employers and the other for manufacturers, and he’s worked with both. He has advised employers about zoning and dust hazard analyses and manufacturers about how they can make their machines ATEX compliant. In 2017, he became the worldwide ATEX expert for FrieslandCampina.
He found the opportunity to study dust explosions more interesting than gas explosions because of the variation involved.
“The dust particles change during the process and even the dairy powders are so much different from each other. Dust is a science in itself. There are also so many different technical items: a spray dryer, a rotary valve, the hoses, the sieves plus the fluid bags. There is so much that can cause an explosion. So you have to know about all these different technical items. And besides that, we also have the human factor – our ATEX training. We also manage the explosion protection documents and assist sites in making good explosion protection documents. So it’s a lot of work, but I like the combination of the human factor and the technical aspects.”
There Are Several Opportunities to Learn More About ATEX
Recalling his own path to ATEX expertise, Paul said, “I’m more of a self-learning person, so it started with studying the European Directives. For people who work in the field of ATEX, IECEx has a whole set of different modules. The first module covers the basics of ATEX. The second module is about how to make an explosion protection document. And so it goes on – to maintenance and to repairing ATEX equipment. So IECEx has a whole system of modules that people can learn and become an expert in that field in that particular module.”
He also recommended conferences.
“I was very happy when the company in Germany (FrieslandCampina) organized these ‘Explosion Dust Safety Days’. That was very worthwhile then, and they still organize them. I learned a lot from the experts at the exhibition company (that organizes) a yearly safety event for ATEX. We call it the big ATEX Congress and we have excellent speakers. Sometimes I give a lecture there myself. It’s very good to follow these conferences.”
Knowing Where to Find Answers is Key
Paul remarked that as an ATEX consultant, you “have to know everything.” This means knowing where to find answers.
“Static electricity, for example, is one of the most difficult subjects when it comes to dust explosions. So you need to know exactly what can cause static electricity – when and when not.”
When he received questions like “How do I solve this problem? Or is this a dangerous situation? Or can we allow so and so temperature in our spray dryer? Or do we need anti-static filter cloth here or not?” Paul dug deeper into the literature to find the answers.
“It’s very important to know if something is safe or not. Sometimes if you say it’s not safe, it means huge investments. So then, you need to find out how to say it. You need to know if what you say is applicable to the situation, and that you don’t base your judgment on a general statement somewhere in the literature.”
Paul’s daily work varies. By way of example, he said that a client had a spray dryer in Pakistan and recently wanted to know if the explosion panels were big enough, so he got involved in the calculations. Since FrieslandCampina has its own ATEX training, he often has Q&A sessions with its ATEX knowledge-holders worldwide.
“Just today I’m planning a new ‘ATEX knowledge holder day’ where we get together with all the ATEX knowledge holders. I had a discussion about our ATEX audits, as we also perform ATEX audits on the sites. I also just had a discussion with one of our directors about the findings of our ATEX audits and how we followed them up. This is just an example of what my work entails.”
Conclusion
Paul concluded the interview with two pieces of advice.
“First of all, when you make your ATEX zoning a dust area classification, there are other rules and other schemes. But always compare it with what you observe in practice. I’ve seen area classifications that are too severe compared to reality. So always use your common sense.
“The second is that with ATEX, the danger is in the detail. Small changes in the process can cause explosions because sometimes small changes may lead to slightly higher temperatures or slightly different air flows or the dust get stuck. Suddenly, you have a heat buildup and a smouldering clump exists and then you get an explosion. Watch out for your management of change process. If the MOC is not done well, you are in trouble.”
If you would like to discuss further, leave your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also reach Paul Van Norden directly:
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulvannorden/
Website: https://www.frieslandcampina.com/
If you have questions about the contents of this or any other podcast episode, you can go to our ‘Questions from the Community’ page and submit a text message or video recording. We will then bring someone on to answer these questions in a future episode.
Resources mentioned
Dust Safety Science
Combustible Dust Incident Database
Dust Safety Science Podcast
Questions from the Community
Dust Safety Academy
Dust Safety Professionals
Dust Safety Share
Companies
FrieslandCampina
Organizations
IECEx
Directives
ATEX
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