Halon dumps: a data point

From: ajp166 <ajp166_at_bellatlantic.net>
Date: Wed Sep 13 22:03:30 2000

>Moderately good news: Halon dumps aren't instantly fatal.


It can very nearly be.

It's an oxygen displacer and non combustable in itself and non
posionous but it's not oxygen! It can be lethal due to oxygen
deprevation. What makes it fairly safe like you saw is that
it's quite heavy compared to air and hungs the floor. Those
that didn't leave were in my estimation quite foolish.

Many years ago one of the halon similars (freon12) was spilled
in a room I was working in, roughly 35 gallons of it due to a
valve left open. I was quite blue when I was dragged out of
the room as it had displaced all the air and only the fact
that I'd been under the HEPA curtain doing work (also why
I didn't initially notice it) there was outside make up fresh
air added or I'd have been hospital fodder or worse.

Freon and halon are related as florinated or halogenated
hydrocarbons and both are low boiling point, heavy compared
to air and non combustable. They are also both oxygen
displacents makeing them dangerous in closed rooms
and effective for fire control (both as a mild cooant and
removing oxygen) while fairly inert.

I'm sure there are varients of R134A in use or similar
still used.

Allison
Received on Wed Sep 13 2000 - 22:03:30 BST

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