Industrial risks associated with silos: fire and explosion

Cereal storage, like any other activity, presents risks. Despite the measures taken to reduce these risks at source, and the prevention and protection measures implemented, incidents and accidents can occur. The main industrial risks are fires and dust explosions. Fires can be caused by the combustion of stored products, while explosions can be generated by dust clouds ignited by a source of energy from mechanical equipment. Two accidents in France, in 1982 (Metz, 12 fatalities) and 1997 (Blaye, 11 fatalities), demonstrated the potential seriousness of dust explosions in confined spaces such as silos. These two accidents led to specific regulations in 1983, 1998, 2004 and again in 2007.

After recalling the principles of cereal storage, this article will present the accidentology associated with these facilities. The origins and consequences of the various events recorded over the last fifteen years will be examined. The risks associated with the products involved - dust self-ignition, fire and explosion - will then be explained, together with the reference safety parameters. The phenomenology associated with these different accidents will then enable us to detail the prevention and protection principles implemented on equipment and installations, as well as the regulatory and standard texts governing this activity.