<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Most of the fire safety regulations for ethanol are based on either storage of retail liquor (rarely more than 40% ETOH) or bulk storage of full-strength ETOH in drums. I have never found a study that looked at the fire danger from 70% ETOH in a museum situation. Alcohol flash points are carefully calculated, of course, but the application of flash point to storage is theoretical, e.g., sparking from overhead lights is unlikely to trigger a fire in most museum storage situations because ethanol fumes dissipate quickly and accumulate at floor level. It would take a massive leak or spill in most situations to create a fire or explosion hazard (except for below-grade storage). That said, 70% ETOH ignites easily and burns very hot, so we must be cautious in our storage arrangements and eliminate all sources of ignition that are practical to eliminate. For example, it makes sense to eliminate wall sockets so no electrical equipment can be plugged in inside a fluid storage facility, but requiring spark-proof light fixtures is probably overkill for above grade storage.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">As for storage relative humidity, I agree with what others have said about temperature and (more critically) stability and dew point. You need to be able to reduce temperature and RH fluctuations as much as practical. The effect of RH on evaporation depends, in large part, on what sort of seals your containers have (hence you should emphasize reducing leakage from individual containers). In general, avoid RH close to 60% or higher because that means only a small increase will get you into the mold growth range.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">The free dew point calculator available from IPI is extraordinarily useful for planning storage temperature and humidity for any museum collection: <a href="http://www.dpcalc.org/">http://www.dpcalc.org/</a></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">--John<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br clear="all"></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">John E. Simmons<br>Writer and Museum Consultant</span></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">Museologica<br><i>and</i><br>Associate Curator of Collections<br>Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery<br>Penn State University<br><i>and</i><br>Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia<br>Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima</span></font><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Jun 25, 2021 at 10:58 AM Callomon,Paul <<a href="mailto:prc44@drexel.edu">prc44@drexel.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div lang="EN-US">
<div class="gmail-m_3925658518806463374WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">I’d be interested to know if there are any published studies of the spark ignition of ethanol vapors – perhaps others would too, so if you know of any - chime in! My experience with other volatiles, such as gasoline,
is that spark ignition is unlikely once even a moderate amount of dissipation in air has occurred, but also that such vapors can create “trails” in still, dense air (linking, for example, the pouring point with the spot at which the container was put down
and capped).<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;color:black">Paul Callomon MSc</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;color:black"><br>
<i>Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates</i></span><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%" align="center">
<span style="font-size:10pt;color:black">
<hr width="100%" size="2" align="center">
</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;color:black">Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia</span></b><b><span style="font-size:10pt;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:black">1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA<br>
<i><a href="mailto:callomon@ansp.org" target="_blank">callomon@ansp.org</a> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170</i></span><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
</div>
</div>
_______________________________________________<br>
Nhcoll-l mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu" target="_blank">Nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</a><br>
<a href="https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l</a><br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of<br>
Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose<br>
mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of<br>
natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to<br>
society. See <a href="http://www.spnhc.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.spnhc.org</a> for membership information.<br>
Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.<br>
</blockquote></div>