Jones, Are you seeing conditions for SPICE? Atomic gases under large sudden change in pressure but without a combustion path or a relief valve... are you suggesting a runaway plasma? Regards Fran
-----Original Message----- From: Jones Beene [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 1:26 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [Vo]:1992 Explosion at SRI -----Original Message----- From: Stephen A. Lawrence > Air would just dilute the otherwise stoichiometric mix of gasses which naturally results from electrolysis. Wrong. You are not paying attention. There is nothing even close to stoichiometry when a loaded cathode dumps 100% deuterium rapidly. The loading can take hours to days to accomplish, and the unloading is a fractional second. Most of the oxygen from those many hours has already been expelled through the pressure valve - probably 99%+ of all the Oxygen evolved over the loading period was already gone. There can be only a small amount of O2 in the headspace, prior to the incident. Unless that is - you mistakenly presume details which cannot be scientifically justified by the evidence. > That would in turn seem to *reduce* the likelihood and intensity of any explosion, not exacerbate it. So what, exactly, are you saying would result from an alleged leak ("compromised containment")? Stephen, please try to read and comprehend the report before making ill-informed comments. You have a habit of jumping into these things way too soon. Internal pressure from a rapid release of deuterium, caused by recalescence - not from an explosion - not yet at least - can cause a severe overpressurization, breaking the seals, causing initial influx of air as the oxidizer when seals are damaged. This has little to do with stoichiometry. Did you even look at Fig 5? This is cooling curve is classic recalescence. > Plus he was apparently the kind of expert that "someone" involved did > not want to hear from ... SAL: Jones, please don't play so coy. JB: I am not an investigative reporter, Stephen, and my post is admittedly second-hand and therefore it is not appropriate to suggest the name of a party when we do not even know for sure whether there remains any culpability that has gone unaccounted-for, to date. The names you seek could already be a part of a settlement agreement with the estate of the deceased. This is not public knowledge. I'm sorry that you are so annoyed, but why not make the best of it by reading the online information about this incident first? By then, perhaps Jed will report back on whether or not he believes Brain Ahern's account of the incident. > Do you mean Johnson-Matthey, or SRI, or what, here? If the authors of the McKubre report in 1993 had been made of aware of the recalescence propensity of that particular alloy - then the report would probably look far different than it does. That is why I am taking the time to try to set the record straight on this. However, the culpability is probably split between a number of parties, if everything were known. The tragic part is that attempts were made to forewarn SRI of this problem, based on what was known to have happened previously in Salt Lake City. The holidays intervened, sadly for all concerned. Jones
