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ISO 10156:2010 contains a test method and a calculation method for flammability of gases and gas mixtures for the selection of cylinder valve outlets. The calculation method is used also to classify gas mixtures according to the national and international dangerous goods and dangerous substances regulations, e.g. according to the UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UN TDG) and the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (UN GHS). The calculation method for gas mixtures requires substance parameters of the single components. These are the coefficients for the fire potential (Tci) and for inerting ability, the so-called nitrogen equivalence (Kk), which have been estimated conservatively by means of flammability data.
BAM checked Tci and Kk values of ISO 10156:1996 using three-component diagrams (Flammable gas-Inert-Air) of the CHEMSAFE® database. The experimental fundamentals and the principles of the calculation method are summarized in this paper. The revised data for Tci and Kk values were adopted in the tables of ISO 10156:2010.
Furthermore, subcategorization of flammable gases has been proposed by a UN working group and shall be implemented in the GHS in the meantime. The subcategorization requires the lower flammability limit (LFL) as an additional indicator. Therefore, a test method and a calculation method for LFL were proposed by BAM and have been implemented in the new draft of ISO/CD 10156:2016.
The calculation method for gas mixtures is based on Le Chatelier’s rule and was extended by using the Kk values for inert components in the mixture. The calculated LFLs of methane-inert gas mixtures were compared with experimental values for different types of inert gases. It could be shown that calculated LFLs are in good agreement with experimental values if the Kk values derived from three-component flammability diagrams are used. Although using the Kk values of ISO 10156:2010 leads to higher deviations, the results are still on the safe side.
For the classification of chemicals, special standardized test procedures have been developed and are used world-wide. Safe handling and use of these chemicals depend on the correct classification which
therefore must be based on the precise and correct execution of the tests and their evaluation. In this context interlaboratory tests (round robin tests, interlaboratory comparisons / intercomparisons) are a crucial element of a laboratory's quality system. Participation in interlaboratory tests is explicitly recommended by the standard ISO/IEC 17025. The present document reports on the results of the interlaboratory test 2007 on the method UN Test N.5 “Test method for substances which in contact with water emit flammable gases” [1] / EC A.12 “Flammability (contact with water)” [2] which was organized by the Center for Quality Assurance for Testing of Dangerous Goods and Hazardous Substances.
In dependence on the chemical structure and/or the physical form and state (e.g. particle size) substances or mixtures may be able to react with water (even water damp / air humidity) under normal ambient temperature conditions. Sometimes this reaction can be violent and/or with significant generation of heat. Especially if gases are evolved this reaction may become dangerous. In addition, it is important to know whether a substance emits flammable gases due to contact with water because
special precautions are necessary especially with regard to explosion protection. The methods UN Test N.5 and EC A.12 are applied to characterize chemical substances or mixtures which in contact with water emit flammable gases. To differentiate between chemicals with these properties and chemicals which are not classified as hazardous / dangerous, the substance’s gas evolution rate is determined and compared to the classification criteria(s) in the last step of the test
method. In the methods UN Test N.5 / EC A.12 no special laboratory apparatus / measuring technique to determine gas evolving flow is required. However, practical experience shows that the testing procedure for substances and mixtures which in contact with water emit flammable gases is sensitive to a number of influencing factors. Since the methods (UN N.5 / EC A.12) were developed and came into force in the early nineties a
systematic review concerning the practical application of the test method has not been carried out.