“We Can Prevent an Incident From Becoming a Catastrophe”

Safety means nothing happens: safety, security, and cybersecurity protect facilities from unwanted events. But when it comes to explosion protection, a different rule applies: sometimes there’s a bang, even with properly designed equipment. What matters here is keeping events under control. At POWTECH TECHNOPHARM, visitors experience the full spectrum of industrial safety in production.

Written by Marius Schaub

An explosion takes place in front of an audience on the outdoor grounds of POWTECH TECHNOPHARM, with the explosion’s fireball at the center — Live, but not hands-on: at POWTECH TECHNOPHARM, explosion protection becomes tangible – and so does what can happen without the right protective components.

What matters more: safety or cybersecurity, security or explosion protection? No one should look at safety in production that way. That would be like asking a driver what matters more: the brakes, the central locking system, or the crumple zone.

Each system protects against a different hazard, and only together do they create real safety. The same is true in industrial production: functional safety, security, cybersecurity, and explosion protection are distinct disciplines with their own regulatory frameworks. Anyone who keeps all four in view increases both the safety and the resilience of their processes. POWTECH TECHNOPHARM brings operators together with the experts and solutions they need for exactly that.

Different Disciplines, One Goal

Functional safety ensures that safety-related control systems respond reliably when needed – for example, when a sensor detects a critical pressure spike and triggers an emergency shutdown. Security protects facilities and personnel from unauthorized access, from the plant entrance to sensitive equipment areas. Cybersecurity protects data and increasingly networked control technology from digital attacks and manipulation.

The fact is, though: these disciplines are converging. The more safety functions depend on sensors and networked software, the more important it becomes to protect those systems from digital manipulation. Anyone who treats safety and security as separate silos risks gaps precisely where the two areas overlap. At POWTECH TECHNOPHARM, operators find concrete points of contact for both sides: from safety controllers to OT security concepts.

Dr Johannes Lottermann, Chief Business Development Officer Explosion Safety at Rembe at the trade fair booth at POWTECH 2023 with the Q-Box R3leaf — “Explosion protection must not begin with the hope that nothing will happen”: after more than 20 years, Johannes Lottermann remains fascinated by what safety equipment can achieve for industrial production.

Explosion Protection: Existential for Combustible Materials

The fourth discipline is explosion protection. It is existential in every industry that handles combustible dust, gases, or solvents. Dr. Johannes Lottermann knows this field from two perspectives: as President of IND EX, the international network for industrial fire and explosion protection, and as Chief Business Development Officer Explosion Safety at REMBE Safety+Control.

Lottermann studied safety engineering in Wuppertal and earned his doctorate on integrated fire and explosion protection concepts. What still fascinates him after more than 20 years in the field is the effectiveness of good engineering: “A properly designed protective measure responds within milliseconds and can protect human lives, facilities, and a company’s economic survival.” For him, explosion protection is therefore not just technology, but applied responsibility.

Just how powerful this can be is illustrated by an experience in Brazil: after a severe explosion with fatalities, Lottermann developed a new protection concept on-site. Two years later, a comparable explosion event occurred again – but this time no one was injured. Instead of a destroyed facility, only the designated replacement parts had to be swapped out. “That gave me chills,” Lottermann recalls. “You can’t rule out an explosion in every process. But we can prevent an incident from becoming a catastrophe.”

From this, he derives a simple formula: “Functional safety asks whether a system responds correctly. Cybersecurity asks whether someone can manipulate that response. Explosion protection asks whether people and facilities are protected when the hazardous event actually occurs.”

Where Operators Often Fall Short

According to Lottermann, the biggest weakness is rarely found in individual products, but in a lack of understanding of one’s own operator responsibility. A device with ATEX marking alone does not make a safe facility concept – operators must know their materials and keep a protection concept up to date throughout the entire life cycle of the facility. Explosion protection expert Lottermann observes three mistakes especially often:

Explosion protection is considered only at the end of a project, once budget and facility design are already fixed
Operational changes such as new raw materials or finer particles are underestimated, even though they can fundamentally alter explosion behavior
Protection concepts exist only on paper instead of being embedded in maintenance and employees’ daily behavior

On the regulatory side, Lottermann points to the need for a systematic management-of-change process for facility modifications, and the growing interplay between machine safety and cybersecurity. Looking ahead, he expects the disciplines to become more closely interconnected, but stresses: “The most important success factor remains the human being. Digitalization can support expertise, but it cannot replace it.”

Live Explosions at POWTECH TECHNOPHARM: Safety You Can Feel

On the outdoor grounds of POWTECH TECHNOPHARM, this knowledge becomes tangible. Visitors experience a dust explosion at an industrial-scale test setup and see how an inconspicuous combustible dust turns into a highly dynamic event within fractions of a second. Experts then demonstrate how an explosion can be controlled through venting, suppression, or isolation.

“The crucial difference from a film is the physical experience. It permanently changes how many visitors perceive risk,” says Lottermann. What looks spontaneous is actually the result of precise planning: defined safety distances, tested protective components, and controlled ignition from a protected position. “Safety here doesn’t come from courage, but from preparation,” Lottermann emphasizes.

He sums up the message for operators: “Explosion protection must not begin with the hope that nothing will happen. It has to begin with understanding your own process.” At the same time: explosions are manageable. With a proper hazard assessment and a coordinated protection concept, massive damage can be avoided.

Experiencing 360-Degree Safety

Safety in production is not a competition between disciplines, but an interplay of safety, security, cybersecurity, and explosion protection. Anyone who considers all four dimensions together makes their processes lastingly more resilient. POWTECH TECHNOPHARM offers the right impulses for exactly that – from the exhibition floor to expert forums to the live explosion on the outdoor grounds.

An explosion takes place in front of an audience on the outdoor grounds of POWTECH TECHNOPHARM, with the gas mixture just before the explosion at the center — Just before the bang: an explosion can develop within a few milliseconds. That makes it all the more important to take precautions so it doesn’t unfold uncontrolled.

Interested in this topic? Then come to POWTECH TECHNOPHARM and experience this and many other topics live at the trade fair. Secure your ticket here using the following code: PTTP26Insights

Author

Marius Schaub