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ewyorksockexchange t1_jdux2f4 wrote

Reply to comment by Imprettystrong in A Pennsylvania chocolate factory explosion has killed 7 people by FolsgaardSE

My bet is on a dust explosion. Look up Imperial Sugar to see how devastating those kind of explosions can be. The root cause is typically poor housekeeping and process engineering, creating an environment where airborne dust reaches a combustible concentration in a closed space and finds an ignition source.

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Susbirder t1_jduyri2 wrote

Yep. And nearly any atomized substance can be explosive. In this environment, sugar, powdered milk, cocoa, and a host of other materials could have been suspended sufficiently to trigger the blast.

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ronreadingpa t1_jdwjs4p wrote

Doubt it. Takes a lot of dust to explode that violently. Not saying it's not possible, but seems highly unlikely for what they made there. Probably a gas explosion. Either directly from accumulated gas or a boiler that experienced a fault releasing gas that led to explosion.

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yourgravityfails t1_jdzi5is wrote

From what I understand no candy was manufactured in that facility . They packaged there and there were some offices .

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