Equipment Malfunction Causes Dust Explosion at Steel PlantEquipment Malfunction Causes Dust Explosion at Steel Plant
May 31, 2017

A piece of lime kiln dust filter equipment exploded at the Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Plant in Vietnam on Tuesday night shortly after the plant began efforts to resume production following a massive toxic waste spill last year.
A malfunction in the dust filter equipment sent fine limestone dust particles into the air and caused a combustion, an executive vice president of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, Chang Fu-ning, told Reuters on Wednesday. Formosa Plastics Group owns and operates the Vietnam plant.
“Our equipment which collects dust suffered an explosion. We immediately cut off the power supply for a security check. We are trying to find out what caused it,” said Chang in a phone interview with the news wire service.
“There was no fire, damage, or casualties as a result.”
A press release issued May 31 by the provincial People’s Committee said limestone dust and steam produced by burning lime combined to form a dust cake in the equipment’s fabric filter, news website Vietnam+ reported. A drop in pressure occurred and the fabric filter broke before the explosion.
Production at the $11 billion steel plant was halted after an incident last year where toxic waste from the plant tainted more than 125 miles of coastline in the province. The firm paid millions of dollars in fines. The incident Tuesday renewed discussions about the plant’s safety, Vietnam+ said.
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