IND EX® Safety Congress 2014 | Dortmund, Germany - Review
The First German Fire Protection Congress in Dortmund from May 21st to 22nd, 2014 was a complete success. The exciting mix of technically and scientifically high-grade lectures, experiments and live explosion demonstrations was daring, but the intended results were attained.
The slightly more than 80 participants were impressed by the speaker's and expert's high level of expertise who met in Dortmund. The IND EX® catering area on the DMT grounds also provided an ample opportunity for the exchange of experiences to get in touch with the specialists, and discuss the ideas and suggestions with other participants in a unique atmosphere.
Richard Siwek, Managing Director of the FireEX Consulting GmbH and a globally recognized expert in the field of fire and explosion safety, sums it up:
"These were two really great days. I have personally conducted several 1000 explosion tests, and what was shown here in Dortmund had a real practical relevance - congratulations."
Even Professor Dr. Uli Barth from the University of Wuppertal was highly enthusiastic: “IND EX® supports the coming generation with the income from such events. Without the financial support of IND EX® many research projects would have failed in the early stages.
"I find it remarkable that a platform is being created here to present the latest trends and developments."
The first day was distinguished by theoretical contributions such as innovations in rule codes and regulations, as well as practical contributions, so that the participants received a fresh overview of the current status of industrial fire and explosion safety. In the afternoon we then went to the DMT Tremonia, the historic test site in Dortmund. IND EX® did not miss out on the opportunity to let the participants enter the fire tunnel in order to experience first hand how the smoke development of a burning conveyor belt spreads at incredible speed and escape seems nearly impossible. Some of them came out of the tunnel totally "shocked" and needed a refreshment. For this, IND EX® had organized a professional catering service, which also served the finest food and exquisite beverages.
Under bright sunshine, the protective measures of isolation and pressure relief were then demonstrated on two real dust filter housings
Here, subsidiary manager Roland Bunse of REMBE® demonstrated how such system components can be protected effectively and safely. Christian Wittrock from IEP Technologies concluded this part with an explosion suppression demonstration where a burning cloud of dust was quickly extinguished. With his experiments to illustrate potential ignition sources, Dr. Krommes put the proverbial cherry on top, and finally triggered several impressive explosions with conventional powders, as they occur in everyday industrial life.
“An exciting way to put a dab of fun into the usually very dry topic of explosion safety, and to gain a much better feeling for the dangers and effects of explosions", said Ute Weber from IND EX® e.V. about the excursion to DMT.
The first day was rounded off with an invitation from EasyFairs to their exhibitor event. During the “Bavarian Evening” the guests were provided with delicacies and wheat beer, as well as an opportunity to engage in conversations with exhibitors of the bulk goods trade fair. Pure networking.
On the second day Sylvia and Günter Lüttgens started with some experiments in the seminar room. This illustrated very clearly how the electrostatic ignition source caused an incident in a German refinery. The event was perfectly concluded with interesting lectures from the perspectives of the insurance industry, universities or the manufacturer's.
At a joint lunch, the participants were able to sum up their experiences:
"We will surely participate again when they say: the German fire and explosion safety will enter the second round in the spring of 2017", confirms Peter Tomsic of TRM Filter from Slovenia.
And Stefan Penno, President of IND EX® e.V. summarizes:
“We took a lot of risks for a premiere, but the overall concept worked out as we had planned. Nevertheless, we will surely improve the next edition a little bit, and we will again provide unexpected surprises, so that it will definitely be worthwhile to participate again - if you're not there, you'll miss too much."
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