[Nhcoll-l] fluid-preserved collections explosion hazard and safety

[Dirk Neumann]

Dear Lennart,

might be worth if you would call me - we just going through the 
renovation work of our climate control system, and fire safety was a 
major issue.

The answers to your questions depend on how your systems will be set up, 
as this determines potential fire risks in your fluid storage. The main 
question and concern should be potential ignition sources. E.g. during 
the renovation works here, they intended to install a 380v power 
connection for a flow-type heater just behind my alcohol supply for the 
collection ...

So there are different items to consider, eg. air exchange rates, 
planned temperatures in the storage area, location of switches, power 
sockets .... etc.

All the best
Dirk



Am 22.10.2020 um 15:17 schrieb Lennart Lennuk:
>
> Dear all!
>
> I have urgent question about fire safety in fluid-preserved collections.
> We are planning new building for Estonian Museum of Natural History 
> and until last week it was not considering the potential danger of ca 
> 15 cubic meters of fluid-preserved specimens, speaking of 12 tonnes of 
> 70-75 % ethanol.
>
> I need some examples from the best of this world. We had meeting last 
> week with our fire-safety specialist but he seemed to have no 
> knowledge or skill to deal with such amount of ethanol.
>
> Most important questions are:
>
> a)In case of fire, how to exit? Sprinklers and gas extinguishing are 
> out of question. But then, if I spill a jar full of something toxic or 
> poisonous and some fire gets loose, what then?
>
> b)Do you handle your fluid-preserved collectins as an explosion 
> hazard? How do you mitigate the risks? How do you lead out the heat 
> from collection in case of fire?
>
> I think a pressure valve, which just flies away in case of 
> overpressure, would mitigate some risk.
>
> We already have planned the ventilation to near-floor, ideally 
> separate from rest of the building.
>
> An alternative is to put all fluid-preserved vessels to the flammable 
> liquid safety cabinets but this may be more expensive than secure the 
> whole room.
>
>
> So far I have checked NPS, ConserveOGram, Collection Forum, spnhc wiki 
> and STASHC but have not find any specific information about that:
>
> 1. Simmons, John E. /Fluid Preservation/.
>
> 2. ? Storage Concerns For Fluid-Preserved Collections. /Conserve O 
> Gram/ *11*, 1–4 (1999).
>
> 3. Marte, F. & Solazzo, C. The Stability of Natural History Specimens 
> In Fluid-preserved Collections. 10.
>
> 4. Neumann, D. & Carter, J. Baseline Standards for Fluid Collections. 47.
>
> 5. MacLeod, I. D. Conservation of a museum megamouth shark specimen by 
> changing its preservative from aqueous ethanol to aqueous glycerol. 
> /Collection Forum/ *29*, 73–89 (2015).
>
>
> Best regards!
>
> Lennart Lennuk
>
> Head of zoology
>
> Estonian Museum of Natural History
>
> +372 6603404, 56569916
>
>
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-- 


Dirk Neumann

Tel: 089 / 8107-111
Fax: 089 / 8107-300
neumann(a)snsb.de

Postanschrift:

Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
Zoologische Staatssammlung München
Dirk Neumann, Sektion Ichthyologie / DNA-Storage
Münchhausenstr. 21
81247 München

Besuchen Sie unsere Sammlung:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/sektion/ichthyologie-home/

---------

Dirk Neumann

Tel: +49-89-8107-111
Fax: +49-89-8107-300
neumann(a)snsb.de

postal address:

Bavarian Natural History Collections
The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology
Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Storage
Muenchhausenstr. 21
81247 Munich (Germany)

Visit our section at:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/sektion/ichthyologie-home/

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