HOW TO DETERMINE THE DANGEROUS PROPERTIES OF SUBSTANCES

Fire and explosions may develop into catastrophes when dangerous substances are transported. A sound knowledge of the dangerous properties of the substances to be transported is therefore of major importance. This knowledge should be the basis for the classification of dangerous goods and for other international regulations that concern the transport of these substances. This paper cointains a rough survey of the principles involved in the classification of dangerous goods as well as discussions on fire and explosion hazards of dangerous goods, and the phenomena (mechanisms, physical effects, sensitivity, etc.) that play an important role in unwanted explosions. The state of the art is also reviewed concerning the classification of dangerous goods. This review centers around the United Nations recommendations on which a growing number of national and international regulations are based in countries all over the world. Attention is also paid to laboratory scale investigations of the hazardous properties of substances and to the first results of a comparison of the different test methods proposed for classification of organic peroxides. Also, some tests are reviewed on intermediate and full scale bases. The last section of this paper is dedicated to some recent investigations on the self-heating of bulk materials.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/state-of-the-art/3/3-015.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309039738
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appeared in TRB State of the Art Report 3, Recent Advances in Hazardous Materials Transportation Research: An International Exchange. Papers presented at the conference held in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, 10-13 November 1985. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Groothuizen, T M
  • Pasman, H J
• Publication Date: 1986

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References;
• Pagination: p. 119-125
• Serial:
  • State-of-the-Art Report
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0892-6891

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Classification; Explosions; Fires; Hazardous materials; Laboratory tests; Properties of materials; Test procedures
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Materials; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00457739
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0-309-03973-8
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Aug 31 1988 12:00AM