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

Blog

Our highly experienced team keeps you up-to-date on the latest process safety developments.

Process Safety Newsletter

Stay informed with our quarterly Process Safety Newsletters sharing topical articles and practical advice.

Resources

With over 40 years of industry expertise, we have a wealth of process safety knowledge to share.

Recent Posts

Pre-Carius? Carius Tube Testing for Hazardous Materials and Reactions

Posted by Fauske & Associates on 09.27.17

By David Dale, Scientific & Medical Products Limited and Jeff Griffin, Fauske & Associates, LLC

FAI Carius TubeThe Carius tube apparatus is an old-school device used to thermally test materials on a small scale. The technology is particularly helpful for understanding potentially hazardous reactions or materials. While other tools like the Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) or Advanced Reactive System Screening Tool (ARSST) are good for screening potentially hazardous reactions and providing more robust data, the Carius tube apparatus still has its place in the process safety assessors armoury.

When we say the device is ‘old-school’ – we mean it. The Carius tube was invented by Georg Ludwig Carius in the late 1800’s. Compare this to other screening / kinetic evaluation tools like the DSC, invented by Watson and O’Neil in 1962, the Accelerating Rate Calorimeter (ARC), invented by scientists from DOW Chemical in the late 1960’s and the ARSST, invented by Fauske & Associates in the early 1980’s.

The Carius tube apparatus works by placing approximately 10 grams of sample in a heavy-walled sealed glass tube and then placing it in an oven. The oven temperature is ramped at a controlled rate, typically 0.5 K/min. Temperature and pressure of the test cell are monitored and recorded in order to assess the thermal stability of a test sample upon heating. Speaking of heat – it is an interesting aside that George Ludwig Carius worked for several years with Richard Bunsen (of Bunsen burner fame).

So, getting back to the task at hand, the Carius tube method is most popular in Europe, where a preponderance of existing data from the device leads companies to perform this test on new samples in order to have a benchmark for reactivity. Like a master carpenter, a full service testing lab will have all of the tools in the shop to help customers solve process safety problems, no matter how simple or complex they may seem.  

If you’d like further information regarding Carius tube testing or other services offered by Fauske & Associates, please contact Dave Dale at dave@scimed.co.uk or Jeff Griffin at griffin@fauske.com. www.fauske.com

About the authors:

David Dale, MSc worked for 30 years as a process safety advisor for Pfizer before joining Scientific and Medical Products (SciMed) in 2007. He loves the Carius tube like an old friend.

Jeff Griffin, MBA is Global Director of Business Development and Strategy for Fauske & Associates, LLC. He enjoys obscure history and gets easily lost while browsing Wikipedia.

FAI Process Safety Newsletter

 #thermal hazards

Topics: Process Safety, Thermal Stability, ARSST, Nuclear

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