No increase in dust explosion incidents last year, ten-year average remains unchanging

Story by Ashvini Malshe

Photo by Tom Campbell

February 26, 2024

The annual summary recording nationwide grain dust bin explosions reported nine incidents in the United States in 2023. This means that there was no increase from the nine reported incidents in 2022. The 10-year average of 8.4 explosions remains relatively unchanged. Notably, this average is significantly lower than the average number of incidents that occurred prior to the implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s grain handling standard in 1988.

Kingsly Ambrose, Purdue University professor of agricultural and biological engineering and report author, said that all the explosions occurred in the Midwest, most of them taking place in the corn handling or processing industry.

The explosions occurred in one ethanol plant, one wheat mill, two grain elevators, two soybean processing plants, two corn processing plants and one corn cob processing plant. The probable ignition sources were identified in two cases as fire and another as equipment malfunction, while six cases were from unknown sources. Fuel sources for all nine of the explosions were identified as grain dust.

The dust explosions occurred in four different states, with three each in Illinois and Minnesota, two in Iowa and one in Indiana.

Ambrose explained, “Dust explosions are one of the most serious hazards that can occur in the grain industry. The explosions can also lead to significant financial and personal losses from downtime, repair, injuries and fatalities.”

He continued, “There is a critical need to educate the workers and employers on dust explosion prevention within a facility, including assessments of dust accumulation and dust explosion protection methods.”

Ambrose further stressed the need to develop relevant and practical hands-on educational materials to raise awareness and adoption of prevention technologies by grain handling and processing facilities.

Featured Stories

Farmer Sentiment Declines to Lowest Level Since June 2022 Amid Weakened Financial Outlook

April witnessed a steep decline in U.S. farmer sentiment, as indicated by the Purdue...

Remi Carrella stands in cap and gown at Purdue University in front of the union

The COVID-19 Class: A senior’s journey to finding belonging and personal growth during the pandemic

The “COVID-19 Class” is a mini-series documenting the experiences of three members of...

Kranthi Varala, assistant professor, and Rachel Kuhn, a junior, both in Purdue’s department of horticulture & landscape architecture, collect individual seed pods of genetically modified Arabidopsis plants to help assay the genetic changes leading to higher seed oil content.

Purdue-USDA team develops fast-track process for genetic improvement of plant traits

Researchers interested in improving a given trait in plants can now identify the genes that...

Noah Berning standing outside of the ABE building.

Academic and extracurricular excellence earns ABE and ag econ senior France A. Córdova Award

Growing up in Monroeville, Indiana, a small-town near Fort Wayne, Noah Berning dreamed of...

Senior Kayla Grennes stands in cap and sash in Purdue Greenhouse

The COVID-19 Class: Born a Boilermaker senior persists to find her fit at Purdue

The “COVID-19 Class” is a mini-series documenting the experiences of three members of...

gravel road through a variety of agricultural farm fields

Highlights from our 2024 Agronomy Clubs & Teams Competitions and Meetings