We have linoleum floor in the x-ray room which of course cracks under LN2. We put wood panel under the large container of the Oxford Cryo to prevent this. We have tiled floor in the corridor outside the room and that's where we empty the containers used for freezing crystals and other containers of LN2. It's always fun to watch. No cracks have appeared on the floor for nearly 10 years. I'm not sure what the tiles are made of.
Cheers, Boaz ----- Original Message ----- From: David Roberts <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 15:00 Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] Liquid nitrogen resistant flooring To: [email protected] > We went through a building renovation and this has been a > problem for us > too. In the old days, our building was simply sealed > concrete - and you > could do anything with it with no issues. Now, it's an > epoxy floor, but > really what happens is the liquid nitrogen cools it down and > breaks the > seal between the epoxy and the concrete - causing cracks and > ugliness. > We use a series of throw rugs and large containment pans to hold > the > nitrogen. It doesn't really work - so every now and then > we simply > repaint the floor. It's only in a few places that we use > this, so it's > not too bad. > > I do have 1 room that they put the wrong floor down first. > It's a > spongy floor - designed to not carry a static charge. > Instead of > removing the covering (which they can't do), they just went over > that > floor with an epoxy coating. Oddly enough - that room > doesn't crack > when I pour liquid nitrogen on the floor. So maybe that's > the trick - > put a cushion between the concrete and the epoxy. > > They wouldn't leave sealed concrete because it looked bad (we > did a > renovation, not a new building). Too bad > > Dave > > > On 2/16/2011 7:32 AM, Richard Edward Gillilan wrote: > > This has been a problem for us too. Sorry, I don't have a > solution to offer except, recently, we have provided metal > buckets filled with a layer of aquarium gravel at each station > and encouraged users to dump their excess nitrogen there instead > of on the floor. > > > > > > Richard > > > > On Feb 16, 2011, at 7:20 AM, Nicholas Keep wrote: > > > > > >> Can anyone recommend a floor coating that passes category 2 > containment (ie not wood) that is resistant to liquid > >> nitrogen. Ie you can fill dewars on without > cracking. Various solutions our estates people have fitted > have all proved > >> unsatisfactory. > >> Bets wishes > >> Nick > >> -- > >> > >> > Boaz Shaanan, Ph.D. Dept. of Life Sciences Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beer-Sheva 84105 Israel Phone: 972-8-647-2220 ; Fax: 646-1710 Skype: boaz.shaanan
