Hazards Analysis, Code Compliance & Procedure Development

Services to identify process safety hazards and facilitate compliance with established standards and codes.

Combustible Dust Testing

Laboratory testing to quantify dust explosion and reactivity hazards

Flammable Gas & Vapor Testing

Laboratory testing to quantify explosion hazards for vapor and gas mixtures

Chemical Reactivity Testing

Laboratory testing to quantify reactive chemical hazards, including the possibility of material incompatibility, instability, and runaway chemical reactions

ISO Accreditation and Scope
Fauske & Associates fulfills the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 in the field of Testing
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 safety handle the effluent discharge from an overpressure event

Thermal Stability

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

UN-DOT

Classification of hazardous materials subject to shipping and storage regulations

Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Biological

Model transport of airborne virus aerosols to guide safe operations and ventilation upgrades

Radioactive

Model transport of contamination for source term and leak path factor analysis

Fire Analysis

Model transport of heat and smoke for fire analysis

Flammable or Toxic Gas

transport of flammable or toxic gas during a process upset

OSS consulting, adiabatic & reaction calorimetry and consulting

Onsite safety studies can help identify explosibility and chemical reaction hazards so that appropriate testing, simulations, or calculations are identified to support safe scale up

Mechanical, Piping, and Electrical

Engineering and testing to support safe plant operations and develop solutions to problems in heat transfer, fluid flow, electric power systems

Battery Safety

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

Hydrogen Safety

Testing and consulting on the explosion risks associated with devices and processes which use or produce hydrogen

Spent Fuel

Safety analysis for packaging, transport, and storage of spent nuclear fuel

Decommissioning, Decontamination and Remediation (DD&R)

Safety analysis to underpin decommissioning process at facilities which have produced or used radioactive nuclear materials

Laboratory Testing & Software Capabilities

Bespoke testing and modeling services to validate analysis of DD&R processes

Nuclear Overview

Our Nuclear Services Group is recognized for comprehensive evaluations to help commercial nuclear power plants operate efficiently and stay compliant.

Severe Accident Analysis and Risk Assessment

Expert analysis of possible risk and consequences from nuclear plant accidents

Thermal Hydraulics

Testing and analysis to ensure that critical equipment will operate under adverse environmental conditions

Environmental Qualification (EQ) and Equipment Survivability (ES)

Testing and analysis to ensure that critical equipment will operate under adverse environmental conditions

Laboratory Testing & Software Capabilities

Testing and modeling services to support resolution of emergent safety issues at a power plant

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.

UN-DOT Testing

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When goods are to be transported, there are many regulations that need to be followed in order to assess and classify the hazards associated with the specific material. This can be an important factor in the design and commercialization of a specific good. Slight changes in the composition of the material may not change the overall end use of the product but could possibly result in a change in its hazard classification. 

Fauske and Associates, LLC (FAI) has extensive experience in characterizing the explosive or flammable nature of solids, liquids, vapors and gases.  With this expertise, we are proud to offer a suite of UN/DOT testing of potentially dangerous goods.  “Dangerous goods” may be pure chemical substances, mixtures, or manufactured articles. 

FAI offers the following testing services to help determine the proper shipping classification for the following types of hazards:

Class 2: Aerosols

Ignition Distance, Enclosed Space Ignition, Foam Flammability, and Heat of Combustion tests are used to determine the flammability properties of aerosol materials.

Ignition Distance testing is used to determine the ignition distance of an aerosol spray to assess the associated flame risk in an open environment.  The aerosol is sprayed in the direction of an ignition source at intervals of 15 cm to observe if an ignition, sustained combustion, or flashback of the spray takes place.

Enclosed Space Ignition is used to determine the propensity for an aerosol spray to ignite in an enclosed or confined space. The aerosol is sprayed into an enclosed cylindrical test vessel containing a burning candle to observe whether an ignition occurs.

The Foam Flammability testing is used to determine the flammability of an aerosol spray emitted in the form of a foam, mousse, gel, or paste. The aerosol is sprayed onto a watch glass and an ignition source is introduced in the vapor space above the aerosol contents. If the aerosol ignites, the height of the flame and the duration of the combustion are recorded.

The Heat of Combustion testing is used to determine the heat released, or energy, when the liquid components of an aerosol undergo complete combustion with oxygen at standard conditions.

The results from the Ignition Distance, Enclosed Space Ignition, Foam Flammability, and/or Heat of Combustion tests characterize an aerosol as either being non-flammable, flammable, or extremely flammable. The classification of aerosols is critical in determining proper packaging and shipping groups for transportation purposes.

CLASS 3: FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS

Flammabile Liquids photoThe flammable liquids classification is determined by evaluating the flash point of the liquid.  The packing group is then assigned based on the range at which the flash point of the liquid falls within.

CLASS 4: FLAMMABLE SOLIDS, DIVISION 4.1: FLAMMABLE SOLIDS, SELF-REACTIVE SUBSTANCES AND SOLID DESENSITIZED EXPLOSIVES

The Burning Rate test is used to classify materials as “flammable solids”. The test involves exposing a powder train (250 mm x 20 mm x 10 mm) to a flame or hot wire with a temperature of 1000°C.  Classification is then based on the materials burning rate.

CLASS 4: FLAMMABLE SOLIDS, DIVISION 4.2: SUBSTANCES LIABLE TO SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

Flammabile Solids SignThe Self-Heating Substances test is used to determine if substances are “spontaneously combustible”.  The test involves exposing various quantities of sample to temperatures of 100°C, 120°C and 140°C for a period of 24 hours.  During the exposure time, the temperature of the sample is monitored for exothermic activity.  Classification is then based on the occurrence of exothermic activity and the size and temperature at which it occurred.

CLASS 4: FLAMMABLE SOLIDS, DIVISION 4.3: SUBSTANCES, WHICH IN CONTACT WITH WATER, EMIT FLAMMABLE GASES

Flammable Liquids BeakersThe Dangerous When Wet test is used to determine if the material is capable of generating flammable gases when it comes into contact with water.  This is a multistep test that involves exposing the material to small quantities of water and evaluating if flammable gases are generated.  Classification is then based on the evidence of flammable gas evolution and the rate at which these gases evolve.

CLASS 5: OXIDIZING SUBSTANCES, DIVISION 5.1: OXIDIZING SOLIDS

The Solid Oxidizing Substance test is used to identify if a material is has hazardous oxidizing properties.  The test involves mixing the sample with various quantities of a known combustible material and comparing the burning characteristics to that of a known oxidizer/fuel mixture.  Classification is then based upon how intensely the sample burns.

Results from these tests will identify if your material falls into one of these categories and, if so, the degree of danger these materials present.

CLASS 5: OXIDIZING SUBSTANCES, DIVISION 5.2: OXIDIZING LIQUIDS

The Oxidizing Liquids test is used to identify if a material has hazardous oxidizing properties. Specifically, this test method is designed to measure the potential for a liquid substance to increase the burning rate or burning intensity of a combustible substance. The test involves mixing the sample with a known combustible material and comparing the burning characteristics to that of a known oxidizer/fuel mixture.  Classification is based upon how quickly and intensely the sample burns which then determines the necessary packing group for the sample.

TRAINING

Our team is happy to help train your staff in the understanding of technical issues, process safety programs or audits, regulations and more.  We perform process safety audits as part of a comprehensive hazards analysis and can work with you to make sure your staff is supplied with skills training needs in many ways including: 

Level I - Gap Analysis
Level II - training & consulting
Level III - Program Development and Implementation

Partial List of Services Offered:
• Reviews and upgrades of all your safety process systems and regulatory requirements
• VPP Consulting
• Audits, reviews, and upgrades of all your Operating, Safety, and Maintenance Procedures
• Training program evaluations for both completeness and effectiveness (from technical skills to professional development) and upgrades where
needed
• Reviews and upgrades of your program elements such as Employee Participation and Process Safety Information for effectiveness and completeness
• Work process effectiveness evaluations and upgrades
• Overall organizational development (e.g., motivation, work processes)
• Stress reduction
• Evaluations of the effectiveness of communication

We design, custom develop and deliver any site specific training materials needed by your organization. Our Consultants, Engineers and Technical Specialists are available to deliver the classroom, lab or on-the-job training your staff needs. In addition, we will assist with the identification and procurement of commercially available training materials where available.

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Learn how to properly identify and analyze hazards for reactive chemical systems

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