Synopses & Reviews
The handbook provides ready information on the fire and chemical reactivity of commonly used chemicals. Its purpose is to provide basic information important to the safe handling of chemicals and to help provide guidance in responding to a hazardous materials incident, in particular, incidents involving reactive chemicals and materials posing fire and explosion hazards. The volume has been written for chemical handling specialists, first responders to hazardous materials incidents, and firefighters. The basic definition used for a hazard materials incident is any situation that may potentially lead to catastrophic fire or explosion, and or human exposed to a toxic chemical. This situation may result from a spill of a hazardous material, a leak from a storage vessel or shipping container, or the mixing of incompatible chemicals whereby a chemical reaction could occur resulting in the release of energy and generation of toxic and perhaps flammable by-products. The volume provides chemical specific information, providing the reader with rigorous information on the chemical of interest.
This book is a compendium of chemical specific fire and chemical reactivity data and information. More than 1,000 chemicals have been researched and organized into a reference handbook for fire specialists, chemical handling specialists, and plant safety engineers. The specific information provided for chemicals includes the flammability characteristics, recommended fire extinguishing practices, fire extinguishing agents not to be used, behavior in fires, burning characteristics, chemical reactivity with regard to water and common materials, incompatible chemical mixtures, containment and neutralization methods for spills. This reference book has been designed as a data bank for the hazardous materials handling specialist and industrial safety managers dealing with large chemical inventories. It is intended to be used by fire and loss prevention specialists and as a basis for developing procedures for safe storing and handling of chemicals. The authors have included an extensive physical properties section on chemicals, with information most pertinent to fire response situations.
About the Author
Tatyana A. Davletshina is consultant to the United States Agency for International Development on environmental and safety management issues for industrial operations in the republics of the former Soviet Union. For the last two years she has been on assignment in Ukraine, assisting in industrial waste management issues at steel plant operations and in the chemical manufacturing sector. Miss Davletshina is a safety engineer with degrees from the Donetsk State University, Ukraine, and West Virginia University, where she obtained a masters degree. She is also a member of the faculty of the Donetsk State Technical University, Ukraine and visiting professor to West Virginia University. She has worked extensively with Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences and has interacted on environmental issues with the Russian Academy of Sciences. She has contributed to the industrial press extensively and is the author of Noyes Publication's Industrial Fire Safety Deskbook.
Nicholas P. Cheremisinoff heads the Industrial Waste Management Program to eastern Ukraine under the United States Agency for International Development. He has nearly twenty years of industry and applied research experience in polymers, petrochemicals, and environmental and energy management in the heavy manufacturing and processing industries. Among his experience includes nearly thirteen years as product development manager and specialist for Exxon Chemical Company's elastomers product lines, and he actively provides consulting for private industry in the polymer technology areas. He has contributed extensively to the industrial press by having authored, co-authored or edited over 100 reference books and numerous articles. Dr. Cheremisinoff received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from Clarkson College of Technology, Potsdam, New York.
Table of Contents
1. Organization of the Book 2. Index to Chemical Names and Synonyms
3. Chemistry of Fire and Toxic Materials
Introduction | Chemistry of Fire | Isomers | Alhenes | Alkynes | Straight-Chain Hydrocarbons | Aromatic Hydrocarbons | Hydrocarbon Derivatives | Halogenated Hydrocarbons | Alcohols | Ethers | Ketones | Aldehydes | Peroxides | Esters | Amines | Theory of Flammability and Pyrolysis | Classifying Petroleum Liquids with | Respect to Fire Characteristics | Fire Extinguishment | Flammability Properties | Estimating Lower Flammability Limits | Vapor Density | Specific Gravity | Water Solubility | Responding to Fires | Chemistry of Hazardous Materials | Chemical Properties | Key Concepts and Definitions | Hazard Categories and Chemistry | Principles | Properties of Organics | Functional Groups | Flammables | Water Reactive Chemicals | Toxic Materials | Chemical Comparability | Toxicology | Glossary of Fire and Hazardous Materials | Handling Terminology
4. Fire, Explosion and Chemical Reactivity Data for Industrial Chemicals
Index