TGen Project 1: Flammable Liquids Recommendations
TGen project
My first project a TGen was to determine the amount of flammable liquids that can be legally stored in each lab and each floor, so that we can perform a flammables inventory of all the laboratories.
This involved a lot of reading through technical documents like the 552 page International Fire Code. Exciting stuff! You may think I am being facetious, but there was much to learn in these documents that related directly to what I was learning in chemistry and biology. Concepts like:
FLASH POINT. The minimum temperature in degrees Fahrenheit at which a liquid will give off sufficient vapors to form an ignitable mixture with air near the surface or in the container, but will not sustain combustion.
BOILING POINT. The temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the atmospheric pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute (psia) (101 kPa) or 760 mm of mercury.
The understanding of these concepts was essential to crafting a report that accurately deciphered the amount of flammable liquids allowed for laboratory experiments.
You might ask, why does a biology lab need all these flammable liquids?! Again, recent chapters in chemistry and biology point to an answer. Organic molecules, those that interest biologist most, are typically non-polar (particularly hydrocarbons). To dissolve these molecules water does not work! This is because of its polarity. Think of trying to dissolve butter (hydrocarbon) in water....... it just does not work.
To dissolve organic molecules a solvent that can break down non-polar substances is needed. That is where chemicals like Methanol, propanol, isopropyl, ethanol, and other come in. All flammable. I still have more to learn to know exactly how this process works, but it is fun to find practical applications of what I am learning in school in my internship.
My first project a TGen was to determine the amount of flammable liquids that can be legally stored in each lab and each floor, so that we can perform a flammables inventory of all the laboratories.
This involved a lot of reading through technical documents like the 552 page International Fire Code. Exciting stuff! You may think I am being facetious, but there was much to learn in these documents that related directly to what I was learning in chemistry and biology. Concepts like:
FLASH POINT. The minimum temperature in degrees Fahrenheit at which a liquid will give off sufficient vapors to form an ignitable mixture with air near the surface or in the container, but will not sustain combustion.
BOILING POINT. The temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the atmospheric pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute (psia) (101 kPa) or 760 mm of mercury.
The understanding of these concepts was essential to crafting a report that accurately deciphered the amount of flammable liquids allowed for laboratory experiments.
You might ask, why does a biology lab need all these flammable liquids?! Again, recent chapters in chemistry and biology point to an answer. Organic molecules, those that interest biologist most, are typically non-polar (particularly hydrocarbons). To dissolve these molecules water does not work! This is because of its polarity. Think of trying to dissolve butter (hydrocarbon) in water....... it just does not work.
To dissolve organic molecules a solvent that can break down non-polar substances is needed. That is where chemicals like Methanol, propanol, isopropyl, ethanol, and other come in. All flammable. I still have more to learn to know exactly how this process works, but it is fun to find practical applications of what I am learning in school in my internship.
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