The safety and environmental aspects of a manufacturing process are important due to increased environmental regulations and life quality. In this paper, the concentration of aerosols in the breathing zone of the operator of Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM), a commonly used non traditional manufacturing process is presented. The pattern of aerosol emissions from this process with varying process parameters such as peak current, pulse duration, dielectric flushing pressure and the level of dielectric was evaluated. Further, the HAZOP technique was employed to identify the inherent safety aspects and fire risk of the EDM process under different working conditions. The analysis of aerosol exposure showed that the concentration of aerosol was increased with increase in the peak current, pulse duration and dielectric level and was decreased with increase in the flushing pressure. It was also found that at higher values of peak current (7A) and pulse duration (520 m s), the concentration of aerosols at breathing zone of the operator was above the permissible exposure limit value for respirable particulates (5 mg/m 3 ). HAZOP study of the EDM process showed that this process is vulnerable to fire and explosion hazards. A detailed discussion on preventing the fire and explosion hazard is presented in this paper. The emission and risk of fire of the EDM process can be minimized by selecting proper process parameters and employing appropriate control strategy.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.