Hazardous Chemical 9-11

The recent spate of spill incidents involving the transport of crude oil, fuels and solvents by pipelines, railroads and tanker trucks reflects the dramatic increase in the volumes of materials being moved by these means. The increased number of incidents and the risks involved are reflective of developments in the oil & gas sector and the expectation is that these sorts of incidents will continue to increase.

Accordingly, emergency spill responders continue to utilize technologies and cleanup methods that have repeatedly demonstrated their inability to effectively clean these types of incidents up and most often fail to address the issue of explosive and toxic vapors while cleanup is in progress.

Use of vapour-suppressing foams offers industry temporary relief at best but does nothing to actually mitigate the dangers inherent with the release as long as it remains in a liquid phase.

With so many hazmat incidents taking place in and around urban centers; Lac Megantic, QC, immediately coming to mind, reinforces the desperate need for innovative, effective response technologies.

Testing and real-world testimonial has demonstrated that the use of “oil-sensitive” super-absorbent polymers on oil and chemical spills eliminates the liquid phase and drastically reduces the “rate” at which hazardous vapours are released; reducing the concentration-in-air to below the Lower Explosive Limit in many instances.

 IMBTEC America, Inc. will discuss the implications of super-absorbent use on oil and chemical releases with respect to the suppression of hazardous chemical vapors, and elimination of secondary contamination of response personnel and the local environment.