Gas-Solid Fluididization Experiment

A safety audit for the gas-solid fluidization experiment was conducted. The following safety concerns were found when performing the audit: operating beyond the operational limits, spillage of the beads, risk of head injury from bending over to change the beads in the apparatus or from the low bar, and congestion of the workspace.
One of the biggest safety concerns with this lab involved the small glass beads that acted as the solid in the experiment. If the gas flow rate goes below 50 standard cubic feet per hour (SCFH), the small glass beads could enter the flow meters. This would result in damages to the flow meters, giving false readings which in return could result in the team, conducting the experiment, to adjust flow rates beyond the operational limits that the apparatus could handle.
If the gas flow rate exceeds 1000 SCFH the glass beads will splash and be lost out of the top of the column. This results in many tiny glass beads to be spilled on the floor of the lab, which creates a major slipping hazard for everyone near the experiment. Since the beads are so tiny it is very possible that they travel a far distance. The beads also blend into the floor so it would be very hard to get every bead swept up, resulting in the slip hazard still being there. This

Furthermore, without the flow, there is a possible risk of the beads back flowing into critical devices such as the flowmeters. The pipe in question is shown below in Figure 4 with a tall individual who is only centimeters from contact with the pipe. Also, notice that the individual barely has enough space between the seated individual and an individual from another