[Nhcoll-l] Grate covered trenches in alcohol collection facilities

[John E Simmons]

I think perhaps it is best to step back and consider what the trenches are
supposed to do, which is drain away fluid in the event of a spill. For
this, you don't need a very wide mesh in the grate. For example, the floor
drain grates in all of the doorways of the fluid facility at KU are not a
mesh, but a solid plate with slots in it so that a car with reasonable
sized wheels rolls smoothly over it. If you would like to see what the
grates look like, I wi

If you cannot get the covers changed, then perhaps you should consider
changing the wheeled carts. Pneumatic wheels provide a much smoother ride.
The wheels on most lab carts are hard and small, which as Rob pointed out
create a lot of vibration that is transferred up to the specimens on the
cart.

The solution of just carrying a few containers rather than using a bumpy
cart goes against the whole concept of moving containers safely in and out
of the collection storage area because you are far more likely to drop a
container carrying it than if it is on a smoothly moving cart. Better to
replace the cart with one with large diameter, pneumatic wheels (or at
least, soft wheels).

In my opinion, the trenches are a wrongheaded solution to the problem in
the first place. First off, the trenches assume there will be a massive
spill in the collection area. But is that likely? When we were planning the
KU facility, we worked through many of these issues with our local fire
marshal and the state fire marshal. Their worst-case scenario was that all
the jars in the facility would break at the same time and there would be a
flood of alcohol that needed to be drained away by trenches into a
containment pool beneath the building. In talking through this, they were
unable to come up with a situation in which there would be a massive spill
as we agreed to earthquake bars on the shelves. The worst-case scenario
then became tipping over a fully loaded cart, which we pointed out (1) was
highly unlikely because we proposed using carts with pneumatic wheels that
were much harder to tip; (2) that what would be spilling would be 70% ETOH,
not 96%, and that (3) the broken glass and specimens would likely get into
the trenches and clog the drains. In all of the fluid storage rooms I have
visited that have floor trenches there has been an accumulation of dust,
bits of paper, and other stuff in the trenches that has fallen through the
grates and is very difficult to remove, all of which would probably clog
the drains were they ever used.

We also equipped each floor of the facility and the lab with a spill kit,
that contained absorbent pads and booms, plastic garbage back for disposal,
gloves, safety googles, Tyvek coveralls, and shoe covers, all fit into a
five-gallon bucket so that anything from alcohol to formaldehyde spills
could be contained, the specimens rescued and the fluid absorbed, and then
the glass swept up once the floor was dry.

The original solution that was proposed would result in an accumulation of
alcohol in a closed space (the containment pool), so it was pointed out
that alcohol fumes dissipate quickly and thus it was better to deal with
spills in the collection rooms, which were well ventilated. The floor
drains were installed in the facility, but their purpose is to prevent
water from the sprinkler system from flooding into the main building,
rather than to remove vast amounts of alcohol. After discussing how quickly
the amounts of alcohol that could be spilled at once would become diluted
when going down the floor drains, the concept of the containment pool was
also dropped. I realize that the amount of alcohol considered acceptable
going down the drain will vary from one place to another, but the first
step is get a realistic estimate of how much could be spilled at once. Even
a cart tipping over is not all that much when you consider actual alcohol
volume per container (minus specimen volume), the rapid dissipation of
vapors and dilution of the alcohol when rinsed down the drain.

The least expensive solution is probably to change to more suitable carts
with better wheels for moving specimens, but ideally the grates should be
replaced with a surface that allows the carts to roll smoothly over them.

--John

John E. Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
Museologica
*and*
Associate Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
*and*
Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima


On Tue, Feb 8, 2022 at 9:44 AM Rob Robins <rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu> wrote:

> Hi Folks,
> Many modern fluid preserved collection facilities have trenches dug in the
> floors to contain or route a high volume spill of alcohol to a single
> location from where the fluid can be removed.
>
>
> These trenches are typically covered with metal grates.
>
>
> Said grates, no matter their specific attributes, i.e., the size and
> arrangement of the spaces in the grate—typically rectangular or
> square—induce vibration to passing specimen cart wheels. Those vibrations
> end up being transferred to the specimens. Sometimes rather violently.
>
>
>
> *Question for the group*: What if anything is being done to reduce those
> vibrations in collections that have trenches?
>
>
>
> There appears no perfect solution; e.g., temporary “bridges” to smooth the
> passing of carts can be heavy, unwieldly, and inconvenient and thus likely
> not to gain full compliance; even the smallest permissible spaces in the
> grates induce substantial vibration; larger spaces can capture wheels of
> some carts threatening tip over, mores so the typically smaller wheels of
> mobile ladders, etc.
>
>
>
> Yes, for small numbers of materials coming to and from the collection,
> typical use scenarios, these can be carried by most persons. But large
> amounts must periodically be moved and these require carts or something
> like carts. To say nothing of the initial transfer of an entire collection
> to a new facility with these trenches.
>
>
>
> I suppose I am looking for the “least bad” way to mitigate the effects of
> these grates. Full suspension carts?!? 😉
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
>
> Rob
>
>
>
> Robert H. Robins
>
> Collection Manager
>
> Division of Ichthyology
>
> [image: FLMNH Fishes logo email small]
>
> Florida Museum
>
> 1659 Museum Rd.
>
> Gainesville, FL 32611-7800
>
> Office: (352) 273-1957
>
> rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu
>
>
>
> Search the Collection:
>
> http://specifyportal.flmnh.ufl.edu/fishes/
>
>
>
> Search samples suitable for dna analysis:
>
> https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/grr/holdings/
>
>
>
>
>
>
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