[Nhcoll-l] Sprinklers in wet collections

[Paul J. Morris]

Unfortunately not quite that simple.  

While ethanol as a polar solvent is miscible in water, an ethanol-water mix is still flammable down to about 10% ethanol.  With the amount of ethanol now traveling by train and truck, large ethanol fires are currently a very active topic for training and discussion in the fire service - and it is clear that they are harder to extinguish than gasoline fires.  Pouring something less than 500 gallons of water on 55 gallons of ethanol might well spread the fire for you rather than putting it out.  A single sprinkler head might typically deliver around 25 gallons per minute, so there is a good bit of potential for spreading a burning ethanol spill before it is diluted enough to be extinguished (thus raised door thresholds and ramps might be a good idea, though they might increase the risk of a spill or be more of a trip hazard than a benefit).  

Sprinklers in a alcohol collection might still be quite effective at supressing a fire through their usual methods of breaking down the fire tetrahedron through water removing heat as it vaporises and the resulting large volume of steam displacing oxygen in the air.  

Preventing fires is much better than extinguishing them, so the three pronged approach Andy describes makes good sense to me (noting that absolute ethanol's flash point is closer to 55°F, so even lower temperatures might be advisable for a collection with substantial amounts of 95% ethanol, and noting that building codes are also likely to call for electrical fixtures and devices rated for explosive atmospheres).  

I don't know that either the collections community or the fire service has a really good understanding of what the tradeoffs are in fire protection for wet collections, so there is probably a funding opportunity in here for someone....

-Paul

On Thu, 10 May 2012 14:11:36 +0000
Paul Callomon <callomon at ansp.org> wrote:

> As Andy points out, there's a major difference between a fire
> involving ethanol and one fueled by, say, gasoline - ethanol is
> diluted by water, not carried by it. You won't spread an alcohol fire
> by spraying large amounts of water on it, you'll put it out.
> 
> PC.
> 
> 
> Paul Callomon
> Collections Manager in Malacology, Invertebrate Paleontology and
> General Invertebrates The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel
> University 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
> Philadelphia, PA  19103
> callomon at ansp.org
> Tel. 215-405-5096
> ansp.org
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> 
> 
> 
> From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu
> [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Bentley,
> Andrew Charles Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 9:45 AM To: Gali Beiner;
> nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Sprinklers in wet
> collections
> 
> Hi Gali
> 
> I think the issue with water sprinklers spreading a fire are a little
> overblown personally.  Her at the University of Kansas, Biodiversity
> Institute we had a new facility for our wet collections built in the
> mid 90's and we went with a three pronged solution:
> 
> 
> 1.      Lowered temperature - 65°F - below the flash point of 70%
> ethanol which is 70°F
> 
> 2.      HVAC system that replaces air every two hours in the facility
> to prevent vapor buildup, and
> 
> 3.      A sprinkler system and smoke detectors.
> 
> Personally I think the potential hazard to people of any gas
> replacement system (CO2 or otherwise) and the additional cost (very
> expensive initially and to maintain) far outweighs any potential
> issue with a sprinkler system.  70% ethanol would be diluted so
> quickly that it would have very little chance to spread dramatically
> within a facility in the event of a fire.
> 
> Hope that helps
> 
> Andy
> 
>     A  :             A  :             A  :
>  }<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<)))_°>
>     V                V                V
>  Andy Bentley
>  Ichthyology Collection Manager
>  University of Kansas
> Biodiversity Institute
>  Dyche Hall
>  1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
>  Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
>  USA
> 
> Tel: (785) 864-3863
> Fax: (785) 864-5335
>  Email: abentley at ku.edu<mailto:abentley at ku.edu>
> http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu
>                            :                 :
>     A  :             A  :             A  :
>  }<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<)))_°>
>     V                V                V
> 
> From:
> nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>
> [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Gali Beiner
> Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 1:06 AM To:
> nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu> Subject:
> [Nhcoll-l] Sprinklers in wet collections
> 
> Dear Colleagues,
> 
> We are currently dealing with a proposal to install water sprinklers
> in our wet collection storage facilities as part of the general fire
> hazard measures. It will be very helpful to know what kind of
> fire-extinguishing measures have been installed in other facilities
> holding jars and containers with alcohol / formalin / other
> preservative fluids. Were there any particular considerations your
> institute took into accound, given that preservation fluids tend to
> be so flammable?
> 
> Many thanks for your thoughts on this subject,
> 
> Gali Beiner (ACR)
> Conservator, Palaeontology Lab
> National Natural History Collections
> The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
> Berman Building, Edmond J. Safra campus, Givat Ram
> Jerusalem 91904, Israel
> Fax. 972-2-6584741
> galib at savion.huji.ac.il<mailto:galib at savion.huji.ac.il>
> 
> Look into our National Natural History Collections
> <http://nnhc.huji.ac.il/default.asp?PageID=8> Website!


-- 
Paul J. Morris
Biodiversity Informatics Manager
Harvard University Herbaria/Museum of Comparative Zoölogy
mole at morris.net  AA3SD  PGP public key available