Resources

White Papers

To download our white papers, you must become a registered site user. After you register. you will receive an email with a login username and password. Please allow 24-48 hours for activation.

Reactive Chemical Storage

It is a common practice to insulate storage tanks containing reactive chemicals to protect against fire exposure. While this mitigation technique is appropriate for vessels handling non-reactive chemicals, reactive chemicals storage represents a special challenge and must be examined on a case-by-case basis. Read more

Reactivity Screening Made Easy

During the past decade, large efforts were made by the US chemical and petrochemical industries to implement and maintain effective process safety management (PSM) and responsible care programs. Despite these large investments, incidents continue to occur at an alarming frequency. Many executives of leading companies are trying to understand why. A recent survey conducted by the US Chemical and Safety Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) concluded that reactive chemicals present a significant safety problem for the chemical process industries. Key root causes identified by the CSB survey included technical and management systems failures. This underscores the importance of the need to understand and manage chemical reaction hazards more effectively. We also believe that the “quality” of implementation, change management, and auditing of corporate PSM programs is the culprit. We focus in this short paper on incidents caused by runaway reactions and provide guidance on how to improve the “Quality” of managing chemical reactions hazards through a combination of screening and experimental tools. Read more

SADT Determination of Styrene System Using ARC

The United States Department of Transportation (US DOT) and United Nations (UN) have developed a transport systemization based on a classification of certain types of dangerous goods and descriptions of tests and procedures. Dangerous goods are chemical substances, or articles containing chemical substances, which pose a threat to public safety or the environment during transportation if not properly identified or packaged. If they are accidently released, outcomes such as fires or explosions can occur. The purpose of the various tests is to provide adequate protection against the risk to life and property inherent in the transportation of hazardous materials in commerce. Read more

Simplified Process Safety Management for Smaller Companies

Small companies that don’t exceed the threshold quantity requirements to be covered by OSHA’s Process Safety Management (PSM) of Highly Hazardous Chemicals Standard are still handling hazardous materials that may pose risks to their employees and the public. However, many of these companies have limited resources and find the idea of implementing an entire PSM program daunting. Read more

Technology Transfer Planning for Reactive Systems

To reduce time to market, the industry is putting out new products at a faster rate and outsourcing more activities than ever before. Time is of the essence. Therefore, technology transfer during product development, whether within and between companies, needs to work perfectly the first time, exceed expectations, and meet regulatory compliance. A quality technology transfer is just as important now (if not more so). Read more

Thermal Stability Indicators

Chemical process hazards cannot be effectively managed if they first cannot be properly identified. This is especially true for reactive chemicals storage, processing, and management. Reaction rates can be significantly influenced by the presence of contaminants, inhibitors, incompatible chemicals, etc. Read more