Road and workshop by Handyman
Page 46
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Combustibles and spontaneous heating
Safe and unsafe storage (6)
• Earlier in this series I mentioned the heterogeneous collection of materials which are transported and stored, and here I made the point that quite a number react to air or water by spontaneous heating. However, while it is accepted that the larger hauliers and warehouse people are well versed in materials and their storage and transport under safe conditions, there remains a vast amount of material on the move and stacked or stored in premises far from ideal from the fire prevention aspect.
To assist those who may have more recently become involved in storage of various combustibles, or materials liable to spontaneous heating, I will list the high-risk substances with details of the care normally advised for their storage. For example, oil seeds are transported and stored in considerable quantity and certain animal foods are derived from them, therefore the higher risk centres around the oil seeds before processing.
If the oil is caused to form by excessively high and heavy stacking of sacks, the sacks may become impregnated and spontaneous heating may occur. To store safely avoid large concentrations, stack in aisles and keep an even temperature clear of moisture. Of the animal feeds, alfalfa meal and fish meal are included in the list of high-risk substances, having quite a tendency to spontaneous heating, and they should be kept cool and dry.
With grain, the danger is divided between insect infestation and dampness— although actual ignition is rare, it still pays to ensure that storage is ventilated and clear of humidity. However, when maize is milled into a fine meal, there is quite a high risk of spontaneous heating if the moisture content is not held within safe limits.
Old bags or sacks, or even new sacks and Hessian material in bales have a tendency to heat up, particularly used sacks that are contaminated with vegetable and animal oils. There is a distinct danger here, and all such stored material should be kept cool and absolutely dry. Charcoal must be kept dry and well ventilated—on no account must it be wetted and then dried out, as during the dryingout process the risk is high.
Strange as it may seem, fish waste or scrap is quite a high risk, and especially so if stored or loaded before cooling, so avoid high or low moisture content. Oily clothing, rags and silkfabric are a high risk, whether in rolls, bales or boxes and must be dried and cooled before storage. Keep well ventilated, but avoid draughty areas. It is not easy to pin down the modern range of fertilizers with complete accuracy, therefore it pays to consider them as a moderate risk and avoid extremely low or high moisture content; if loaded or stored in bags make sure that there is adequate space for ventilation between bags.
Skins and hides are subject to considerable action from bacteria, and when stored before processing they should be kept cool and dry, and always well away from combustible materials—particularly avoid covering them with old sacks or similar material.
The main rules to remember in safeguarding stored materials are: (1) Closely study all materials stored, especially where different substances are stored together, (2) Avoid collections of dust, powders, old sacks, rags and particularly oils.
(3) All organic material should be allowed to cool before final storage.
(4) Any stocks known to be subject to spontaneous heating should be kept as low as possible; avoid large concentrations and pressures, maintain a watch and a check on ventilatign, temperature and humidity.