Carbides safety

The Wall Street Journal reported that several weeks before the Bhopal disaster, Union Carbide changed procedures at its Institute West VA plant, on which the Bhopal plant design was based, to prevent a similar incident. Rep. Henry Waxman (D. CA.) disclosed that a Union Carbide safety team in September had warned of a potential runaway reaction of methyl isocyanate at Institute and the EPA had reported that there were 28 small leaks of the chemical in 1980 at the facility (Winslow, 1985). 

Moderator Storage Areas. The contaminated moderator will continue to be stored in the storage tanks and stainless eel drums however, in some cases the moderator will be stored in new locations. The contaminated moderator will continue to be processed in the same manner as before. The next phase of moderator consolidation will move the moderator present stored in the C-, L-, and P-Reactor storage tanks to the K-Reactor Moderator Storage. Areas. Miscellweous irradiated and uniiradiated components (e.g., bCron carbide safety rods, instrument rods, spaijets, and other stainless steel and aluminum reactor components) may continue to be stor in the Process Room the Reactor Tank), thou none of the reactor ... 

Control 1-10 motorised boron carbide safety rods 3 motorised boron carbide shut-off rods 1 fine, 1 coarse boron carbide control rod... 

A.crolein, Material Safety Data Sheet, Union Carbide Chemicals and Plastics Company Inc., Specialty Chemicals Division, August 15,1989. 

Acrylate Esters, A Guide to Safety and Handling, compiled by Badische Corp., Celanese Chemical Co. Inc., Rohm and Haas Co., and Union Carbide Corp., 1984. 

Laurence G. Britton, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Union Carbide Corporation (Section 26, Process Safety)... 

Union Carbide (Lutz, 1995a,b) published a checklist used in their inherent safety reviews. 

An explosion and fire (March 13, 1991) occurred at an ethylene oxide unit at Union Carbide Chemicals Plastics Co. s Seadrift plant in Port Lavaca, TX, 125 miles southwest of Houston. The blast killed one, injured 19, and idled the facility, that also produces ethylene, ethylene glycol, glycol ether ethanolamines, and polyethylene. Twenty-five residents were evacuated for several hours as a safety precaution. The plant lost all electrical power, for a few days, because its cogeneration unit was damaged. The Seadrift plant, with 1,600 workers, is capable of making 820 million lb per year of ethylene oxide which is one-third of Carbide s worldwide production of antifreeze, polyester fibers, and surfactants Seadrift produces two thirds of Carbide s worldwide production of polyethylene. 

The chairman of the CCPS Equipment Reliability Data Subconunittee was S. Barry Gibson, E.I. du Pont de Nemours Co., Inc. The subcommittee members were Harold W Thomas, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. William H. Ciolek, Amoco Corporation Joseph C. Sweeney, ARCO Chemical Company Brian D. Berkey, Hercules Incorporated Gary R. Van Sciver, Rohm and Haas Company and William K. Lutz, Union Carbide Corporation. Thomas W. Carmody and Lester H. Wittenberg of the Center for Chemical Process Safety were responsible for the overall administration and coordination of this project. 

See also Acetoacetyl-CoA in citric acid cycle, 6 633 Acetyl cyclohexanesulfonyl peroxide (ACSP), 74 282 78 478 Acetylene(s), 7 177-227, 227-228 25 633 addition of hydrogen chloride to, 73 821 from calcium carbide, 4 532, 548 carbometalation of, 25 117 as catalyst poison, 5 257t chemicals derived from, 7 227-265 decomposition of, 70 614 Diels-Alder adduct from cyclopentadiene, 8 222t direct polymerization, 7 514 economic aspects of, 7 216-217 explosive behavior of, 7 181-187 as fuel, 7 221-222 health and safety factors related to, 7 219... 

Union Carbide, "2-METHYLPENTANOL", Material Safety Data Sheet, Danbury, CT (1981). 

A third important carbamate is aldicarb or Temik , an insecticide and nematocide for potato and vegetable crops. This chemical has been foimd in water wells in 11 states above the 1 ppm EPA safety threshold, barring use in some locales in 1982. According to Union Carbide, one manufacturer, humans can safely ingest 500 ppb. But it is one of the most acutely toxic pesticides registered by the EPA. A fourth carbamate insecticide is methomyl. 

Therefore, awareness that influences willingness, and leadership, but also new forms of communication and cooperation and a possible shift in corporate (safety) culture, are all crucial elements for ISP. Good and successful examples set by companies seen as peers may also strongly stimulate industry. Indeed, the production of the same pesticide produced by Union Carbide in Bhopal using a batch process was accomplished by DuPont using an inherently safer continuous flow process. 

Union Carbide showed the possibility of developing D-size hydrogen-nickel batteries with satisfactory performance. However, safety and cost considerations have restricted the applications of such units and the discovery of hydrogen storage alloys led to the development of the nickel-metal hydride secondary cell which was described in Chapter 6. 

Material Safety Datasheet, Union Carbide Corp. Danbury, Conn., Jan. 1,1992. 

Pebble-Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) A nuclear reactor technology that utilizes tiny silicon carbide-coated uranium oxide granules sealed in pebbles about the size of oranges, made of graphite. Helium is used as the coolant and energy transfer medium. This containment of the radioactive material in small quantities has the potential to achieve an unprecedented level of safety. This technology may become popular in the development of new nuclear power plants. 

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