Hydrocarbon explosions, nature

Aluminum bromide and chloride are equally active catalysts, whereas boron trifluoride is considerably less active probably because of its limited solubiUty in aromatic hydrocarbons. The perchloryl aromatics are interesting compounds but must be handled with care because of their explosive nature and sensitivity to mechanical shock and local overheating. 

The safety aspects of ozonization—i.e., ozone, pyridine, and solvent toxicity, explosive nature of oxygen—hydrocarbon mixtures, etc., need to be considered in the design and running of any ozonization process, especially large scale operations. However, with the proper design and operating conditions the problems involved are surmountable. 

The bond energy of Si—Cl is higher than that of C—Cl, while the bond energy of C—H is much higher than that of Si—H. Hence transfer of Cl from C to Si, with simultaneous transfer of H from Si to C, liberates much energy. Solutions of these compounds in ether, hydrocarbon solvents, or CCl have been shown to be safe at room temperature. This explosive nature, which always appears when a pure sample of these compounds is heated, is attributed to a rearrangement, as illustrated by placing face to face the isomers of 1,3,5-trisilacyclohexane ... 

The isolation of aeetylene from the gas mixture is complicated because of the unstable and explosive nature of acetylene. To avoid operational hazards, most eommereial processes employ absorption-desorption techniques using one or more selected solvents to recover hydrocarbon-derived acetylene. Chilled methanol is the extraction agent chosen by Montecatini as the solvent in their acet-... 

Dining interaction of synthetic rubber and liquid chlorine, a violent explosion occurred. It is known that natural and synthetic rubbers will bum in liquid chlorine. See Hydrocarbons, above... 

Due to the destructive nature of hydrocarbon forces when handled incorrectly, fire and explosion protection principles should be the prime feature in the risk philosophy of any hydrocarbon facility. Vapor cloud explosions in particular are consider the highest risk at a hydrocarbon facility. Disregarding the importance of protection features or systems will eventually prove to be costly both in economic and human terms should a catastrophic incident occur without adequate safeguards. 

Methane, also referred to as marsh gas, is a gas composed of carbon and hydrogen with a chemical formula of CH4. It is the first member of the paraffin or alkane series of hydrocarbons. It is lighter than air, colorless, odorless, tasteless and is flammable. It occurs in natural gas and as a by-product of petroleum refining. In atmospheric burning no smoke production normally occurs. In air methane bums with a pale, faintly luminous flame. With excess air carbon dioxide and water vapor is formed during combustion, with an air deficiency carbon monoxide and water is formed. It forms an explosive mixture with air over a moderate range. Its primary uses are as a fuel and raw feedstock for petrochemical products. 

A gaseous paraffinic hydrocarbon, CHj.CHj that is colorless and odorless and normally found in natural gas, usually in small proportions. It is slightly heavier than air and practically insoluble in water. When ignited in atmospheric burning it produces a pale faintly luminous flame with little or no smoke production. With excess air during combustion it produces carbon dioxide and water, with limited air supplies the combustion process will produce carbon monoxide and water. It forms an explosive mixture with air over a moderate range. 

If a hydrocarbon release is ignited, various possible fire and explosion events may result. The events are primarily dependent on the type of material, the rate of release, the item at which it is ignited and nature of the surrounding structure. 

The methods of evacuation offshore are dependent on the ambient environmental conditions that may develop in the area and relative distance to the mainland. Regions that experience colder ambient conditions inhibit immersion opportunities and remote offshore locations retard onshore assistance capabilities. The preferred and most expedient evacuation means from an offshore installation is by helicopter. Because of the nature of fire and explosions to affect the vertical atmosphere surrounding an offshore installation, helicopter evacuation means cannot always be accommodated and should be considered of low probability where the accommodation quarters are located on the same structure as a hydrocarbon process. 

Natural attenuation, often called intrinsic remediation, intrinsic bioremediation, bioattenuation, or monitored natural attenuation (MNA) is an in situ treatment technology for soil, sediment, or groundwater. The technology has been used for full-scale remediation of sites contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), chlorinated solvents, explosives, inorganics, and metals. 

Manson Ferrie (Ref 6) investigated explosive mixtures consisting of combustible hydrocarbons such as C2H2, and natural gas with oxygen as oxidizer. 

When explosives are found singly or as mixtures there is a problem of their rapid identification. It is particularly significant in field areas where normal laboratory facilities are not available and unknown explosives have to be quickly characterized. Though the n complexes of nitroaromatic compounds with hydrocarbons have been studied by TLC [5], yet suffer from the disadvantage of their colorless nature and difficulty of location on the chromatoplates... 

At present, HpNC is significantly easier to make than ONC, which is an expensive explosive and also difficult to make. Research is now focused on finding an economical synthetic route and to make it directly by tetramerization of dinitro-acetylene (a compound not yet known). By exploiting the property of TNC (of highly acidic nature) and use of interfacial nitration, TNC is converted to PNC [261]. Acetylene (parent hydrocarbon of dinitroacetylene and a cheap starting material available in abundance) is acidic in nature and therefore, it is speculated that acetylene may be converted to dinitroacetylene by following the approach of conversion of TNC to PNC, followed by its tetramerization resulting in the formation of ONC. 

Reaction XC1. (a) Oxidation of Aromatic Hydrocarbons to Aldehydes by the action of Chromyl Chloride in Carbon Disulphide Solution. (Etard.) (A. Ch., [5], 22, 225.)—In this reaction the hydrocarbon and chromyl-chloride are both dissolved in carbon disulphide, and the solutions carefully mixed. An explosive intermediate compound is precipitated, and this is separated and decomposed with water to give the aldehyde. The yields are very good, but the method is not often used owing to the inconvenience of working with carbon disulphide and the dangerous nature of the intermediate compounds. 

Small quantities of explosive laboratory chemicals can be destroyed following known methods. By adopting standard methods, it is possible to destroy or reduce the dangerous nature of laboratory chemicals and check their reaction. Hydrocarbons (e.g., alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, arenas) bum well and can be disposed of by incineration or as fuel supplants. Also, many hydrocarbons commonly used in chemical laboratories may be easily ignited. Some cyclic compounds such as alkanes and cyclohexane may form explosive peroxides. Personnel trained in handling explosives should destroy these compounds using detonation. Many poly(nitro) aromatic compounds are explosive, and their disposal requires the services of an expert. 

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