Combustible Dust Testing

Laboratory testing to quantify dust explosion and reactivity hazards

Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Gas and Vapor

Laboratory testing to quantify explosion hazards for vapor and gas mixtures

UN-DOT
Classification of hazardous materials subject to shipping and storage regulations
Hydrogen
Testing and consulting on the explosion risks associated with devices and processes which use or produce hydrogen
Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Thermal Stability

Safe storage or processing requires an understanding of the possible hazards associated with sensitivity to variations in temperature

Adiabatic Calorimetry
Data demonstrate the consequences of process upsets, such as failed equipment or improper procedures, and guide mitigation strategies including Emergency Relief System (ERS) design
Reaction Calorimetry
Data yield heat and gas removal requirements to control the desired process chemistry
Battery Safety

Testing to support safe design of batteries and electrical power backup facilities particularly to satisfy UL9540a ed.4

Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Cable Testing
Evaluate electrical cables to demonstrate reliability and identify defects or degradation
Equipment Qualification (EQ)
Testing and analysis to ensure that critical equipment will operate under adverse environmental conditions
Water Hammer
Analysis and testing to identify and prevent unwanted hydraulic pressure transients in process piping
Acoustic Vibration
Identify and eliminate potential sources of unwanted vibration in piping and structural systems
Gas & Air Intrusion
Analysis and testing to identify and prevent intrusion of gas or air in piping systems
ISO/IEC 17025:2017

Fauske & Associates fulfills the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 in the field of Testing

ISO 9001:2015
Fauske & Associates fulfills the requirements of ISO 9001:2015
Dust Hazards Analysis
Evaluate your process to identify combustible dust hazards and perform dust explosion testing
On-Site Risk Management
On-site safety studies can help identify explosibility and chemical reaction hazards so that appropriate testing, simulations, or calculations are identified to support safe scale up
DIERS Methodology
Design emergency pressure relief systems to mitigate the consequences of unwanted chemical reactivity and account for two-phase flow using the right tools and methods
Deflagrations (Dust/Vapor/Gas)

Properly size pressure relief vents to protect your processes from dust, vapor, and gas explosions

Effluent Handling

Pressure relief sizing is just the first step and it is critical to safely handle the effluent discharge from an overpressure event

FATE™ & Facility Modeling

FATE (Facility Flow, Aerosol, Thermal, and Explosion) is a flexible, fast-running code developed and maintained by Fauske and Associates under an ASME NQA-1 compliant QA program.

Mechanical, Piping, and Electrical
Engineering and testing to support safe plant operations and develop solutions to problems in heat transfer, fluid, flow, and electric power systems
Hydrogen Safety
Testing and consulting on the explosion risks associated with devices and processes which use or produce hydrogen
Thermal Hydraulics
Testing and analysis to ensure that critical equipment will operate under adverse environmental conditions
Nuclear Safety
Our Nuclear Services Group is recognized for comprehensive evaluations to help commercial nuclear power plants operate efficiently and stay compliant
Radioactive Waste
Safety analysis to underpin decomissioning process at facilities which have produced or used radioactive nuclear materials
Adiabatic Safety Calorimeters (ARSST and VSP2)

Low thermal inertial adiabatic calorimeters specially designed to provide directly scalable data that are critical to safe process design

Other Lab Equipment and Parts for the DSC/ARC/ARSST/VSP2 Calorimeters

Products and equipment for the process safety or process development laboratory

FERST

Software for emergency relief system design to ensure safe processing of reactive chemicals, including consideration of two-phase flow and runaway chemical reactions

FATE

Facility modeling software mechanistically tracks transport of heat, gasses, vapors, and aerosols for safety analysis of multi-room facilities

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Recent Posts

New In Flammability: The Discovery Hybrid Rheometer

Posted by Fauske & Associates on 02.21.17

By: Megan Piotrowski, Lab Chemist, Fauske & Associates, LLC

The Flammability Team recently acquired a new toy – the Discovery Hybrid Rheometer (DHR) from TA Instruments. Unlike commonly used viscometers, rheometers can make both viscosity and viscoeleastic measurements. The DHR can measure both a fluid’s resistance to flow and how it behaves before flowing. Even further, the Discovery HR-2 achieves this with some of the highest precision and sensitivity in the field.

Rheology Basics                                              Figure 1 - DHR-2 from TA Instruments   http://www.tainstruments.com/dhr-2/
 
Figure 1 - DHR-2 from TA Instruments http://www.tainstruments.com/dhr-2/
Rheometers characterize fluids and solids in terms of flow and deformation. These measurements are useful for a wide range of chemical industries including polymers and solvents, food and agriculture, oil and petroleum and many others. Viscosity, in particular, is an important measurement of flow. It determines the thickness of a material and how it can be applied and manipulated during processing. Viscosity is also an important safety consideration. From an environmental standpoint, if a material is too thin, it may leach into soil or groundwater, causing contamination.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are viscoelastic property determinations. When a material is neither completely solid nor completely liquid, it’s called viscoelastic. Viscoelastic properties like complex modulus and phase angle are measured by rheometers, and they help determine these solid or liquid-like characteristics. They measure the stiffness or toughness of a material as well as its pourability. These properties often come into play when materials have the same viscosity but behave differently. They help characterize these differences and can aid in product formulation to quality control and assurance. 

Figure 2 – Parallel Plate with Sample
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/236007972_fig10_Figure-16-Parallelplate-geometry-setup-60

paralletl plate.png

Rheometers use the forces of shear stress and shear strain to make the abovementioned and other important material characterization measurements. A rheometer accomplishes this by applying shear stress and strain forces to two metal plates with a sample sandwiched between them. When calculating viscosity, the rheometer applies a continuous rotational force in one direction to the top plate. When calculating modulus, or viscoelasticity, however, the plate rotates back and forth, or oscillates. The DHR rheometer allows the user to easily switch between rotational and oscillation modes in order to make viscosity or viscoelastic measurements.

DHR Series Specifics

Due to the importance of rheological measurements, TA Instruments designed their Discovery Hybrid rheometers to be as precise and accurate as possible. The hybrid systems achieve this through a mix of patented and patent-pending innovations such as an optical encoder dual reader, advanced drag cup motor, second-generation magnetic bearing, New True Position Sensor and an Active Temperature Control. These features contribute to better displacement measurements, reduced noise, smoother motor acceleration, reduced friction, higher gap accuracy and the most precise control of upper and lower plate temperatures. As a result of these advancements, the Discovery Hybrid rheometer is able to handle testing over a wide range of conditions while producing highly accurate and reproducible data.

Rheology and Process Safety

As the Flammability Group receives a wide range of chemicals for process safety related testing, the DHR-2 is a great addition to our capabilities. For instance, customers and clients can now include viscosity measurements in their Safety Data Sheet (SDS) completion needs. In terms of process safety, these properties are often vital when devising scale-up procedures. Viscosity and viscoelasticy often change with heating and mixing, and when mixing large batches, it’s important to consider whether stirring and storage of the material could be hindered by these changes. For instance, in the case of certain chemicals, if stirring were to stop or slow down significantly, reactions may stop before completion. This may not only impact the integrity of the batch, but it could also impact the safety of the workers and operators around it. Therefore, it’s important to take viscosity and viscoelastic measurements into account when modifying or implementing chemical processes and their safety considerations.

For more information, contact us at info@fauske.com. www.fauske.com

References
TA Instruments website, Discovery Hybrid Rheometers brochure:
http://www.tainstruments.com/wp-content/uploads/dhr_brochure.pdf

Rheology Basics: Introducing the Malvern Kinexus a Practical Measurement
Perspective by Dr. Adrian Hill; http://www.atascientific.com.
au/eventsandtraining /eventsandtraining /wp-content/uploads/2013/01/
Rheology-Basics-Introduction-to-Rheology-and-Kinexus.pdf

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