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

The Process Safety Benefit of a Robust Thermal Hazards/Stability Tool

Posted by Fauske & Associates on 02.24.15

By Sara Peters, Fauske & Associates, LLC (FAI)

Often, material safety data sheets refer to the thermal stability of a chemical or its stability at higher TAM2_phototemperatures, as an intrinsic property of the chemical or mixture.  In fact, this is an oversimplification of a concept that must be defined in a more comprehensive way. 

Understanding the thermal stability of a chemical or mixture is critical to ensuring its safe handling in any setting. The more stable a material is at higher temperatures, the more resistant it is to breaking down or decomposing . This understanding is accomplished through thermal stability testing aimed at collecting reaction rate data and applying that data to assess whether a specified quantity of material can be used in a way such that runaway reactions are avoided.  This is important when considering processing, long-term storage, or shipping of a material.

Unique testing and consulting requests make it advantageous for a reliable testing organization to have a variety of instruments and tools available to characterize the thermal stability of a material. For example, if the purpose is to characterize reactive chemical systems and consequences that could occur due to process upset conditions, then use of a low thermal inertia adiabatic calorimeters: the Vent Sizing Package 2 (VSP2TM) and the Advanced Reactive Systems Screening Tool (ARSSTTM)  might be most appropriate. However, if the goal is to help quantify the heat released during intended chemical reactions– preparing for the expected, then you may look to reaction calorimetry instruments such as the Mettler-Toledo RC1, ChemiSens CPA 202, or  THT μRC. Or, if the desired outcome is to formulate an accurate determination of safety parameters and plan for mitigating a potential reaction, then you may look to an instrument such as the VSP2TM, ARSSTTM, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Thermal Activity Monitor (TAM)  or Accelerating Rate Calorimetry (ARC). 

All of these instruments are or should be part of a well equipped thermal hazards laboratory, to ensure that each customer’s unique system and problem is properly addressed with the correct tools. At Fauske & Associates, LLC (FAI), we have all of these instruments in our thermal hazards lab but recently saw a need to enhance our toolkit even further  with the addition of the C80 Calorimeter manufactured by Setaram.

Some of the key benefits the C80 offers include:

  • The C80 is a reaction, thermal and scanning calorimeter that operates like a larger version of a DSC which accommodates a larger sample size and bigger test cells  -  10 ml test cells, as opposed to 20-50 µl test cells. This is especially advantageous when dealing with heterogeneous or multi-component samples that come in and are not uniformly mixed and cannot be uniformly mixed (think different colored M&Ms) as the larger size allows a more representative sample to be tested. 
  • It has a wide range of vessels that can be used with it which makes it flexible
  • A lot of the other instruments primarily use metal cells, but the C80 can use glass-lined cells which is beneficial when dealing with peroxides or other chemicals that are highly sensitive/reactive to metals
  • The C80 offers a unique level of sensitivity to thermal events and also the ability to design cells and vessels to simulate almost any potential condition
  • Temperature ramp measures heat flow as a function of time and temperature 
  • Temperature range is from ambient to 300mC

Test_Cell_-_Vessel_-_for_C80

As you can see, the C80 is a fantastic addition to our toolkit here at FAI as it nicely complements other instruments in our lab and enhances the ability of our engineers to offer practical and customized solutions to unique process safety issues dealing with thermal hazards and thermal stability. When you are considering a provider for your own process safety needs in this area make sure that they too have a robust toolkit with which to effectively address your concerns.

For more information regarding our thermal hazards, adiabatic calorimetry/relief system design or reactive calorimetry testing services at FAI, contact Gabe Wood, wood@fauske.com, at 630-887-5270.

 

The Versatile VSP2 – Still Cooking After 26 Years

ADVANCED REACTIVE SYSTEM SCREENING TOOL (ARSST)

 

Topics: Process Hazards Analysis, Thermal Stability, Reaction Calorimetry, Adiabatic Calorimetry

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