Where there’s smoke, there’s fire

Biomass handling has proved a useful additional material in dry bulk handling operations, as it has often compensated for falling volumes of other commodities.
 
However, storing biomass products requires particular attention. Silo fires and even explosions are, of course, nothing new. But with the growing demand for and supply of biomass, concerns are turning to keeping product safely stored before its eventual use in power generation.
 
These risks became apparent in April this year when a wood pellet silo at a storage and shipping terminal in Port Arthur, Texas, USA – one of five silos owned on-site by German Pellets Texas LLC (GPTX) and Texas Pellets Inc – began smouldering. On 21 April, GPTX retained global disaster recovery specialist Cotton Commercial USA to take the lead in extinguishing the fire, extracting the pellets, and restoring the site.
 
However, the silo eventually collapsed and, after a long battle to extinguish the fire, the city of Port Arthur filed a lawsuit against GPTX, citing the public nuisance the community had experienced over the calamity.
 
Explosive stuff