Smokes and Vapors

Marcel Dekker, Inc. 270 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 

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Fire always requires a substrate it cannot exist without air, moisture, and earthy vapors. The breath increases the flame, lamps consume more oil in a draft, and wood burns more rapidly. Coal and wood burn only in a draft, because they have narrow pores that the draft opens and makes more pervious to the fire. Flame is purer when it contains no aqueous or earthy components that lead to smoke and vapor. 

Chemists are strange class of mortals, impelled by an almost insane impulse to seek their pleasure among smoke and vapor, soot and flame, poisons and poverty, yet among all these evils I seem to live so sweetly, that [I d die before I d] change place with the Persian King. ... 

The life persistency of a smoke cloud is deterrnined chiefly by wind and convection currents in the air. Ambient temperature also plays a part in the continuance or disappearance of fog oil smokes. Water vapor in the air has an important role in the formation of most chemically generated smokes, and high relative humidity improves the performance of these smokes. The water vapor not only exerts effects through hydrolysis, but it also assists the growth of hygroscopic (deliquescent) smoke particles to an effective size by a process of hydration. Smoke may be generated by mechanical, thermal, or chemical means, or by a combination of these processes (7). 

Emissions from foundry cupolas are relatively small but stiU significant, in some areas. An uncontrolled 2-m cupola can be expected to emit up to 50 kg of dust, fumes, smoke, and oil vapor per hour. Carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, and organic gases may also be expected. Control is... 

D-86 is the most common method used in refineries. The distillation is done at atmospheric pressure. It is used for samples with an EP less than 750 F (400°C). Above this temperature, the sample begins to crack. Thermal cracking is identified by a drop in the temperature of distilled vapor, the presence of brown smoke, and a rise in the system pressure. Above 750 E liquid temperature, the distilling flask begins to deform. All of today s ECC feeds are too heavy to use the D-86... 

The smoke producing material and the pyrotechnic fuel block required to volatilize the smoke material are in separate compartments. The smoke-producing material is atomized and vaporized in the venturi nozzle by the hot gases formed by the burning of the fuel block... 

Flury, F. and F.Zemik. 1931. Aniline. In Noxious Gases—Vapors, Mist, Smoke, and Dust Particles. Berlin Springer-Verlag. 

In addition, smoke and various vapors can significantly absorb UV, making it difficult or impossible for the detector to "see" a fire. 

Smoke and/or vapors do not absorb radiation as significantly in the IR spectrum as in the UV spectrum. This makes devices of this type particularly useful when heavy smoke concentrations may accompany a fire. However, care must be taken that thick IR absorbing dusts are not part of the hazard. 

The sensitivity to a flame can be affected by deposits of IR and UV absorbing materials on the lens if not frequently maintained. The IR channel can be blinded by ice particles on the lens. While the UV channel can be blinded by oil and grease on the lens. Smoke and some chemical vapors will cause reduced sensitivity to flames. UV/IR detectors require a flickering flame to achieve an IR signal input. The ratio type will lock out when an intense signal source such as arc welding or high steady state IR source is very nearby. 

Perhaps the title of this chapter should be What s in the Air, and on the Ground, and on Your Skin, and in Your Mouth, and in Your Lungs, and Wherever Else You May Care to Name. Chemicals in the workplace can be anywhere and everywhere and take many forms. The general term applied to particulates of different types in the atmosphere is an aerosol. Aerosols are made up from dusts, fumes, smoke, gases, vapors, and mists. These terms are often misused and, consequently, it is wise to have an understanding of what each one means. 

As shown in Fig. 1, the speed of nicotine uptake in venous blood following several forms of nicotine delivery varies widely, from that of the very slow pattern of nicotine appearance in the blood (several hours to peak level) produced by current transdermal nicotine medications to the explosive rise produced by tobacco smoke inhalation. Nicotine gum, lozenge, tablet, and vapor inhaler can provide more rapid delivery of nicotine than the patch, but the speed and amount obtained are constrained by use patterns. Smokeless tobacco products deliver their nicotine more rapidly than nicotine gum and with less physical effort, but are still slower than cigarettes in their nicotine dehvery. 

Schneider NG, Jarvik ME, Forsythe AB (1984) Nicotine vs, placebo gum in the alleviation of withdrawal during smoking cessation. Addict Behav 9 149-156 Schuh KJ, Schuh LM, Henningfield JE, Stitzer ML (1997) Nicotine nasal spray and vapor inhaler abuse liability assessment. Psychopharmacology 130 352-361 Schuster CR, Henningfield J (2003) Conference on abuse liability assessment of CNS drugs. Drug Alcohol Depend 70 S1-S4... 

Titanium (IV) tetrachloride (TiCy produces a dense white smoke-like vapor when exposed to moist air. It is used as smoke screens and for skywriting, as well in theatrical productions where fog or smoke is required for the scene. 

Ionization smoke detectors contain a small radioactive source (Americium 241) which ionizes air in a small chamber. The ions flow to a charged plate giving a measurable current. Products of combustion in the chamber are not easily ionized and absorb the radiation and reduce the current. The low current trips the alarm circuit. The size and composition of the particles are crucial to successful detection so that some types of smoke or vapor are detected at very low (invisible) levels. 

Eastern Europe, 30% in Western Europe and Brazil, 19% in USA, Canada and Mexico and 14% in India. Female smokers are lesser (25% in Eastern and Western Europe, 20% in Brazil, 17% in USA) or much lesser (10% in Russia, China and India 2.5% in Mexico), with the exception of France, Germany and Argentina (35%). Eleven to fifteen cigarettes per capita are smoked every day on the average. Alternatives to cigarettes (cigars, electronic devices, beedis, pipes and vaporizers) are appreciated by small fractions of population. 

Sureda X, Fu M, Jose Lopez M, Martinez-Sanchez JM et al (2009) Second-hand smoke in hospitals in Catalonia (2009) a cross-sectional study measuring PM2.5 and vapor-phase nicotine. Environ Res 110 750-755... 

Hermetic and Neoplatonic tenets into their Islamic asceticism. Like all mystics, they strove for a personal experience of the divine, so it was natural that Jabir would be attracted to alchemy. Jabir developed a theory that became common to all subsequent alchemical texts. He said that all metals seemed to contain a balance of the four qualities that is, they are cold and dry externally, and hot and moist internally. This was due to the fact that they were formed in the earth by the union of a substance that he called sulphur or earthy smoke, and another, which he called mercury or moist vapor. Sulphur and mercury became a masculine and feminine polarity in alchemy. 

Phosphorus is available in two forms, white (or yellow) and red. White phosphorus appears to be molecular, with a formula of P,. It is a waxy solid with a melting point of 44°C, and ignites spontaneously on exposure to air. It must be kept cool and is usually stored under water. It is highly toxic in both the solid and vapor form and causes burns on contact with the skin. Its use in pyrotechnics is limited to incendiary and white smoke compositions. The white smoke consists of the combustion product, primarily phosphoric acid (H 3PO,). 

Stephens, J. R., 1980. Visible and ultraviolet (800-130 nm) extinction of vapor-condensed silicate, carbon, and silicon carbide smokes and the interstellar extinction curve, Astrophys. J., 23H, 450-461. 

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