![]() ![]() To clean up the Centralia site, the Argonne group needed to find a way to break those bonds and chemically strip the individual chlorine atoms - which would then ideally become relatively harmless chloride ions - from the carbon at the center of the molecule. In its molecular form, carbon tetrachloride consists of a central carbon atom bonded to four chlorine atoms. “The only sources of groundwater in these areas of the country are shallow aquifers, which are much more prone to this kind of contamination,” Alvarado said. In certain areas of high agricultural use, carbon tet leached from the soil into the water table, where large quantities have remained for decades. “It’s a hard case because the bonding within the compound is so strong.”Įven though the federal government banned the use of carbon tetrachloride as a grain fumigant in 1985, a good deal of damage was already done. “Carbon tetrachloride was a real challenge to us because its chemical structure is extremely stable,” said team member and Argonne environmental scientist Jorge Alvarado. ![]() However, scientific studies showed that exposure to carbon tet resulted in liver, kidney, and central nervous system degeneration as well as increased rates of cancer. It worked as a powerful cleaning agent and as a refrigerant, and in the Midwest it was used as a pesticide to protect stored grain. The researchers coated the microparticles with organic material, which served as bait for bacteria that created the conditions necessary to safely convert the toxic chemical into non-hazardous substances.īack in the 1960s, carbon tetrachloride - or “carbon tet,” as it is more commonly known - was widely thought to be a miracle chemical. Last year, a team of Argonne scientists led by Lorraine LaFreniere injected iron microparticles underneath fields long-polluted with carbon tetrachloride near Centralia, Kansas. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory has demonstrated a way to enlist bacteria in the fight to cleanse some of the country’s most intractably polluted locations. To learn more about our public courses and their locations click on the links below.However, a new study conducted by environmental scientists at the U.S. ![]() Our 5-Day TapRooT® Advanced Root Cause Analysis Team Leader Training offers advanced tools and techniques to find and fix root causes re-actively and help identify precursors that could lead to major problems. ![]() TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis is taught globally to help industries avoid them. Major disasters like this are often wake-up calls for how important it is to ensure that they never happen again. To learn more about the DeBruce Grain Explosion click here. Most of the silos in the north array were destroyed by the explosion along with the 21-story head-house. The southern gallery wasn’t nearly as damaged as the northern gallery because a dust clean up had recently been completed. As the blast waves passed beneath the northern silos the blast rose through the silos and popped most of the silos tops off due to the intensity of the blast. Once it reached the head-house the blast and fire blew upwards through the head-house and into the southern and northern galleries. The explosion utilized a crossover tunnel allowing it to spread in both directions of the two tunnels in the south array. This initial ignition set of a series of explosion through out the facility begin in the the Eastern tunnel of the south array silos. This is well beyond the 220 degrees Celsius need to ignite layered grain dust. All the friction caused by the moving belt heated the roller to a scorching temperature of 260 degrees Celsius. The non-lubricated bearing seized causing the the roller to lock into place, while the conveyor belt continued to move over the locked roller. The ignition source was a concentrator roller bearing that hadn’t be properly lubricated. The initial explosion, that set off a series of additional explosions, occurred when grain dust ignited in the Eastern tunnel under the South array of silos. How does a major explosion like this occur? The explosion killed 7 people, injured 10, and destroyed a large portion of the DeBruce Grain facility. On Ja grain elevator explosion occurred at DeBruce Grain located in Haysville, Kansas. Septem| Anne Roberts Remembering An Accident: DeBruce Grain ![]()
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