NFPA (Fire) 664 Historical

Revisions in the 2012 NFPA 664 increase protection of lives and property from fires and explosions in wood processing and woodworking facilities.

Updated to reflect industry changes, the 2012 NFPA 664: Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Explosions in Wood Processing and Woodworking Facilities presents the latest requirements for the construction, operation, and protection of industrial, commercial, or institutional facilities that process wood or manufacture wood products.

Many of the revisions were made for consistency with NFPA 68: Standard on Explosion Protection by Deflagration Venting, and NFPA 69: Standard on Explosion Protection Systems. In addition, changes were made to requirements for the efficiency of dust collectors for recycling of exhaust air for consistency with the Industrial Ventilation Manual published by ACGIH.

Top 2012 NFPA 664 changes include:

• New procedures for handling 'deflagration hazard', including a new definition, a new methodology for determination of a deflagration hazard using settled bulk density to determine an allowable thickness for combustible wood, plus detailed Annex instructions on how to collect the dust sample for the new methodology
• New section with requirements on hazard determination including access doors for inspection and fire department access of ductwork
• Revised requirements for the use of explosion protection systems and deflagration venting on metal ducts located both indoors and outdoors
• Reduction of the concentration criterion for allowing ducts to handle dusts without protection from 75 percent of the minimum explosible concentration (MEC) down to 25 percent of MEC to correlate with NFPA 69: Standard on Explosion Prevention Systems
• Revised provisions for dust collectors with deflagration hazards to be equipped with a deflagration suppressions system
• Revised criteria for deflagration relief vents on dust collectors
• Revised requirements for recycling of air-materials separators exhaust into buildings
• New Annex material on control system design for solid fueled burners

The 2012 NFPA 664 is a must for industrial, commercial, or detention and correction facilities that operate woodworking shops as well as wood processing facilities that manufacture wood products, those that process wood, creating wood chips, particles, or dust that occupy areas greater than 5,000 sq. ft. (465 sq. m), or those that have an aggregate dust collection flow rate greater than 1500 cu. ft. per minute (2549 cu m/hr.) In addition, this important Standard is useful for fire marshals, fire/building departments, and other AHJs which regulate the facilities and agencies that conduct inspections on these facilities.