The first step in the assessment of flash fire and explosion hazards is to establish whether a dust cloud atmosphere, if formed, is explosible under actual process/operating conditions. For some common materials, this information may be available from Safety Data Sheets (SDS), manufacturers’ technical bulletins, or other publicly available sources. Otherwise, a Go/No Go screening test on a representative sample from the process will be required.

The explosibility screening test determines whether a powder or dust cloud will explode when exposed to an energetic ignition source. Depending on the test results, a material will be classified as either GO (explosible) or NO GO (non-explosible).

GO/NO GO testing is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the current edition of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) E1226.