Assessing the Risks Associated with the Growing Use of Unstable Chemicals

The chemical industry is driving innovation in plastics and other materials for wearable and implantable medical devices, high-performance fabrics, and sustainable elastomers, hydrogels, resins, and composites for a wide range of applications. The proliferation of these chemical products has also meant an increasing variety and amount of unstable chemicals produced and processed by chemical manufacturers, suppliers, and other stakeholders - accompanied by organizational and industrial risk.

In their paper "Considerations for the safe handling and processing of unstable materials," published in the journal Process Safety Progress and presented at the Global Congress on Process Safety, Exponent thermal engineers Brian Ott, Laurent Delafontaine, Ali Reza, Nicholas Welchert, and Matevz Frajnkovic assess the risks associated with the storage and handling of initiators, monomers, and other known unstable materials.

Their article discusses a methodology developed by the authors to evaluate unstable chemicals, including determining heat generation rates that could cause thermal runaway (an uncontrollable rise in temperature that may result in the release of toxic gas, fire, or explosion, along with possible equipment damage and human hazards). The team also explores case studies and offers recommendations for the safe storage and processing of unstable chemicals with the goal of preventing emergency scenarios.