Worker killed in grain elevator explosion at sprawling farm co-op; cause of blast unknown

Worker killed in grain elevator explosion at sprawling farm co-op; cause of blast unknown

www.washingtonpost.com

UNION MILLS, Ind. — An explosion Monday inside a grain elevator killed a worker at a sprawling northwestern Indiana farm co-op, authorities said.

The cause of the blast at the Union Mills Co-op remained unknown Monday evening several hours after the blast. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firms and Explosives and the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration were among the agencies sending investigators to the scene.

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Odd that the cause of the explosion is unknown. You'd think that they would know the cause of the explosion. I have no idea if it is a conspiracy, or whatever, but the fact is that for some reason, they don't know the cause.

I haven't found any videos on this, but someone might have captured the explosion on camera, and just hasn't uploaded it yet. I haven't found any photos of the explosion either.

Quite peculiar.



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That happens once in a while. The dust at flooring mills explodes once in a while also.

reply to post by extraterrestrialentity


it's methane gas..

Originally posted by extraterrestrialentity

Odd that the cause of the explosion is unknown. You'd think that they would know the cause of the explosion. I have no idea if it is a conspiracy, or whatever, but the fact is that for some reason, they don't know the cause.

I haven't found any videos on this, but someone might have captured the explosion on camera, and just hasn't uploaded it yet. I haven't found any photos of the explosion either.

Quite peculiar.



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edit on 24-6-2013 by extraterrestrialentity because: (no reason given)

I'm impressed you actually got three uses of the word "causes" in there, I have no idea what caused it

Next time you have a campfire, throw a handful of flour just at the top of the flames... whooof. If you were to contain that in a big can (like a silo)...

BOOM.

It doesn't have to be flour. When they fill silos with grain it rains in like a water fall from the top. When they first start to fill the empty silo a mess of fine dust can billow up and hang in the air. All it takes is a spark... or a match.

Sounds like somebody wasn't paying attention.

Grain dust is extremely flammable. When I lived in North Dakota, there were grain elevator explosions pretty frequently throughout the warmer months.

Pretty much zero chance of it being anything out of the ordinary.

Originally posted by cheesy
reply to post by extraterrestrialentity

 

it's methane gas..

It would more likely be caused by the grain dust in the air, how ever it could be possible for gas to be produced if the grain was improperly dried.

I know if you let your grass clippings decompose in a sealed container during the summer months some flammable gas is formed.

reply to post by intrptr




figured it'd help for the point you're making.

Grain Silo explosions are not that uncommon. I am sure it will be due to grain particles in the air and improper venting of particles. But until investigation is completed they will classify as undetermined.

reply to post by CowboyWilly


Grain silos can be quite dangerous - every year, someone falls in and is killed - and they can explode quite frequently.

People thinking farmers are just stupid hicks, don't understand how dangerous farming is, and the vast amount of knowledge one must have.

This is actually pretty common. When grain is stored, sometimes it decomposes a bit, making heat and flammable gasses, let it sit long enough, and boom! The same thing happens with hay, that's why you don't bale green hay, because it will catch fire.

Originally posted by cheesy
reply to post by extraterrestrialentity

 

it's methane gas..

Undoubtedly most indeed it is! Seepage on the U.S East Coast and all over the Earth, in fact, right now. Methane levels are higher than ever, making it a very volatile world. Peace and Godspeed, Xenongod

Grain dust and static electricity, a really bad mixture, thats my bet anyway.

Or I saw a video a while ago of a silo in America that exploded they found the cause to be a faulty bearing in the conveyor system , bearing ran hot them boom because of the grain dust in the air

reply to post by extraterrestrialentity


let bme csee you are in a grain elevator and boom an explosion must be terrorist. no just kidding my guess a spark ignited the grain dust whch is known to be very explosive. we had a dust explosion at a latex plant here a few years ago that set off that registered as a 1 megaton explosion when i heard that come across the news right after the sound a ran out side looking for mushroom cloud. local feed plant was having explosions frequently when i was a kid.

~snip~

Seepage on the U.S East Coast and all over the Earth, in fact, right now. Methane levels are higher than ever, making it a very volatile world.

~snip~

Sorry, that was me. We had brussels sprouts for dinner a couple nights ago....