[Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] Fluid specimen room safety

Thu Jul 11 10:17:32 EDT 2024

Thanks a lot for this comprehensive answers. We will inform our team about these things.
Sincerely,
Joosep Sarapuu
Estonian Museum of Natural History

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Cody Thompson
Sent: Tuesday, July 9, 2024 2:42 AM
To: Dirk Neumann <d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de>
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] Fluid specimen room safety

If it is not evident within this string, be sure to plan for growth! These renovations are expensive, and it is important to be proactive.

Cody W. Thompson, PhD
Mammal Collections Manager
& Associate Research Scientist
University of Michigan
Museum of Zoology
3600 Varsity Drive
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108
Office: (734) 615-2810
Fax: (734) 763-4080
Email: cwthomp at umich.edu<mailto:cwthomp at umich.edu>
Website: codythompson.org

"Museums have two main objectives: the increase of knowledge and the diffusion of knowledge."
-Alexander Ruthven

Please click here to support the UMMZ Mammal Division, its collections, and research mission!!!<https://lsa.umich.edu/ummz/mammals/donate-to-the-mammal-division.html>

On Jul 8, 2024, at 4:49 PM, Dirk Neumann <d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de<mailto:d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de>> wrote:

Hi Alison and all,

maybe few (additional) small comments: I have not seen to many large glass containers that burst spontaneously, e.g., because of temperature/rH fluctuations. This can occur (most probably) with badly annealed historic cylinders of either bad glass quality or thin walls, but these are rare cases.

However, I have seen too many plastic drums that cracked. Usually, these (rated drums) need to be exchanged in regular intervals (which rarely happens). It is also worth keeping in mind that most US collection use undenatured ethanol, while most European Collections have to use denatured ethanol, and many MEK denatured ethanol. The keton (methyl-ethyl ketone) accelerates ageing and deterioration of plastics.

The weak point in stainless steel containers is the seal and the welding, and quality of stainless steel containers differs widely. In terms of fire safety, the general assumption that stainless steel container always are "safer" than glass containers is wrong, for example if you have a lot of (large) stainless steel containers that evaporate large quantities of ethanol, while tight sealing glass containers do not.

Trays may collect a spillage, but cannot contain ethanol vapours. The real threat is not the ethanol, it is the creation of a combustible atmosphere. A source for such an huge spillage could be an earthquake, the collapse of shelves (e.g. exceeding structural weight limits), or nearby constructions works. But again, without an ignition source, even such a major spillage would not be a cause for fire. Electric sockets in a storage room below 1,2 m surely are.

Ethanol sensors detecting critical concentrations of ethanol vapours inside the storage room before somebody is switching on the light may be a better investment.

With best wishes
Dirk

Am 08.07.2024 um 19:45 schrieb Stodola, Alison Price:
Hi Joosep and the nhcoll community,

Our institute constructed a few fluid storage rooms to house mollusk specimens stored in glass jars and vials with 70% to 95% ethanol. These spaces were retrofitted within a standard office building and required significant reconstruction to pass inspection. In your case, the local fire authority will ultimately determine whether a space meets proper safety requirements. Our fire marshal approved the space specs after many (!) revisions. For this build, we have:
1.
2.       Each room has metal fire doors, sheetrock walls, sheetrock ceilings, and a flat, finished concrete floor (with no drains). Lights and outlets are spark-free.
3.       The HVAC system was reconstructed to provide a separate exhaust for these spaces, since the vapors themselves can burn if there is a fire; this prevents the ignited vapors from circulating within the rest of the building in the rare event of a fire.
4.       We are only allowed to store a maximum of 900 liters in each room and we have four such rooms for our entire mollusk collection. This liter maximum is to limit total burn time (I think it's estimated at staying contained for 2 hours if the entire room combusted and the doors were kept closed).
5.       The fire suppression spray heads were aligned with fixed metal shelving from Bradford Systems.
6.       We have spill kits in each room to sop up spilled ethanol and broken glass. We use spill control absorbent mats and plastic bins to place broken glass in.
7.       The majority of our jars are stored in rigid plastic bins that are impermeable to ethanol. These bins would contain a spill or broken glass if one or more jars break within that tray. We are not in an area with high earthquake risk, so they did not require earthquake bars.
8.       We have reduced the number of larger glass containers (anything over 1 gallon), and all larger lots are stored in blue plastic barrels; these will eventually be moved to a stainless-steel gasket tank this fall. The stainless-steel tank will be housed in a different space altogether to reduce our fluid volumes in the retrofitted fluid storage rooms.

Hope this helps!

Alison

--------------------------------------------------

Alison Stodola (she, her), Aquatic Biologist

Acting Curator of Malacology | Illinois Natural History Survey

Prairie Research Institute | University of Illinois

1816 S. Oak Street | Champaign, IL 61820

alprice at illinois.edu<mailto:alprice at illinois.edu> | 217-300-0969 (office)
INHS Mollusk Collection<https://mollusk.inhs.illinois.edu/>

________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu><mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Simon Moore <couteaufin at btinternet.com><mailto:couteaufin at btinternet.com>
Sent: Friday, July 5, 2024 4:11 AM
To: Dirk Neumann fp. <d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de><mailto:d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de>
Cc: NHCOLL-new <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu><mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] Fluid specimen room safety

I would second Dirk’s remarks about floor ridges.  Having experiences them first hand with a trolley full of quite tall jars filled with alcohol and having to negotiate a floor ridge (on my own - reduced staffing levels!) so that the jars didn’t knock against each other!  This was back in the 1980s.  It also takes a large spillage combined with raised external temperature during a hot summer, to produce anything like a realistic fire hazard due to the rather lower flash point of alcohol versus other volatiles. However, Health & Safety parameters are often slightly exaggerated for obvious reasons.

With all good wishes, Simon

Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian.

https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.natural-history-conservation.com__;!!DZ3fjg!5TyxrmuKkJ4FRPuzGeVFOGE42azphmkUi5UrHIYouncFhr2LCGsAqz8or-VdJVeEb3sZNd-_OfPTCKQGwSpZd8T1$<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.natural-history-conservation.com__;!!DZ3fjg!5TyxrmuKkJ4FRPuzGeVFOGE42azphmkUi5UrHIYouncFhr2LCGsAqz8or-VdJVeEb3sZNd-_OfPTCKQGwSpZd8T1$>

> On 5 Jul 2024, at 07:18, Dirk Neumann <d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de><mailto:d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de> wrote:
>
> Dear Joosep,
>
> this depends on your local fire safety regulations; in principle, ethanol itself does not burn, but the highly flammable ethanol fumes. Depending on your HVAC system, a sufficiently high air exchange rates in your alcohol storage significantly reduces potential fire risks. Another relevant factor is reducing potential ignition sources, as ethanol usually does not self-ingnite. It needs a spark.
>
> In case of breakage, it is required in some countries that there are grooves or barriers, e.g. at doors to prevent that in case of a larger spillage ethanol can escape from the storage room. However, these grooves or small barriers usually affect much more, e.g. when you have to wheel carts over these barriers.
>
> Storage rooms should be equipped with small emergency kits that help to remove spillages; there are several chemical spill kits with binders etc. on the market.
>
> To create a combustible atmosphere it usually requires a "large spillage", e.g. a major earthquake or collapse of storage shelves that knocks off hundreds of jars at once.
>
> Hope this helps
> Dirk
>
>
>
>
> Am 04.07.2024 um 10:43 schrieb Joosep Sarapuu:
>>
>>
>> Dear all,
>>  How have you solved the safety of the rooms for fluid specimen? If the cans break, are there any grooves where the liquids run or how do you dispose of such things? What quantities have you considered in case something like that happens?
>>  Sincerely,
>> Joosep Sarapuu
>> Estonian Museum of Natural History
>>
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> --
> ****
>  Dirk Neumann
> Collection Manager, Hamburg
>  Postal address:
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> Leibniz Institute for the Analysis
> of Biodiversity Change
> Dirk Neumann
> Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3
> 20146 Hamburg
> +49 40 238 317 – 628
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Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.

--
****

Dirk Neumann
Collection Manager, Hamburg

Postal address:
Museum of Nature Hamburg
Leibniz Institute for the Analysis
of Biodiversity Change
Dirk Neumann
Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3
20146 Hamburg
+49 40 238 317 – 628
d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de<mailto:d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de>
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--
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Postanschrift: Adenauerallee 127, 53113 Bonn, Germany

Stiftung des öffentlichen Rechts;
Generaldirektion: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Misof (Generaldirektor), Adrian Grüter (Kaufm. Geschäftsführer)
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