Handbook of Reactive Chemicals

L. Bretherick, Handbook of Reactive Chemical Ha ards, 4th ed., CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla., 1979. 

L. Bretherick, P.G. Urbcn and M.J. Pitt, Bretherick s Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards An Indexed Guide to Published Data, 6th Edn, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1999. ISBN 075063605X. 

Bretherick, L. (1990J Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards, 4th edn, Butterworth-Hememann, Oxford. 

P. G. Urben (editor), Bretherick s Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazuuls. 5tli edition. BuUeiwoilli-Hememann. Oxioid, UK. J995... 

The number of reactions that can run away is enormous, Bretherick s Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards [1] lists about 4,700 chemicals that have been involved in hazardous reactions of one sort or another, and there are more than 20,000 cross-references to entries involving more than one chemical. It is an essential work of reference for the chemist, the process engineer, and everyone involved in process safety. All I can do here is give a few examples to illustrate the reasons why runaways occur. 

Bretherick, Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards , CRC Press, Cleveland (1975), 843—45 9) Anon, Toxic and Hazardous Industrial Chemicals Safety Manual , The International Technical Information Institute, Tokyo (1975), 436—7 10) Anon, Fire Protection Guide on... 

Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards , CRC Press, Cleveland (1975) 31) Anon,... 

Bretherick, L., 1990, Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards , 4th ed., Butterworths, London. Brodkey, R.S., 1975, Turbulence in Mixing Operations , Academic Press, New York. 

Lists of pyrophoric materials that include less common chemicals, including metals, can be found in volume 2 of Brethericks Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards (Urben, 1999). Other spontaneously combustible substances are tabulated by their proper shipping names and UN/NA numbers in the U.S. Dept, of Transportation regulation 49 CFR 172.101. 

Volume 2 of Bretherick s Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards (Urben, 1999) lists many structures and individual chemical compounds having oxidizing properties. NFPA 432 can be consulted for typical organic peroxide formulations. Note, however, that some organic peroxide formulations bum with even less intensity than ordinary combustibles and present no chemical reactivity hazard. 

References on incompatibilities, such as Bretherick s Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards (Urben 1999), Sax s Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials (Lewis and Irving 2000) and NFPA 491, Hazardous Chemical Reactions (NFPA 2002), summarize published literature and incidents on incompatibilities. They may give more detailed information on what to expect when specific materials are combined. 

The voluminous Bretherick s Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards (Urben 1999) gives brief summaries of published accounts of numerous incidents involving reactive chemicals and interactions. Bretherick s Handbook includes reactivity information on over 5000 materials, plus a like number of secondary entries involving interactions between two or more materials. Bretherick s Handbook is also available in an electronic format. 

Urben, P.G. (ed.) 1999. Bretherick s Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards, Sixth Edition. 2 vols. Oxford, UK Butterworth Heinemann. ISBN 0-7506-3605-X. Also available on CD-ROM as Bretherick s Reactive Chemical Hazards Database—Version 3.0. Oxford, UK Butterworth-Heinemann. On-line by subscription [www.chemweb.com]. 

The PSI element of both the OSHA PSM Standard and the EPA RMP regulation can be improved by requiring the inclusion of all existing information on chemical reactivity. Examples of such information are chemical reactivity test data, such as DSC, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), or accelerating rate calorimetry and relevant incident reports from the plant, the corporation, industry, and government. OSHA and EPA should require the facility to consult such resources as Bretherick s Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards,Sax s Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials, and computerized tools (e g., CHETAH, The Chemical Reactivity Work Sheet). 

Bretherick s Handbook of Reactive Chemicals Summaries of reactivity, incompatibility, and other dangerous properties of individual substances either alone or in combination case histories Butterworth-Heinemann... 

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