The Fast Thermal Activity Interpreter determines activation energies and rate laws at ambient temperature conditions
Fauske and Associates is introducing a new Fast Thermal Activity Interpreter (FTAI) instrument for use by the chemical industry to help control chemical reaction hazards.
As thermal activity in chemicals can be induced by small amounts of contamination such as metals or moisture, control measures require frequent measurements.
By keeping thermal activity below a specified value, storage size and allowable transportation times can be determined to prevent the occurrence of an uncontrollable runaway reaction.
Designed to monitor chemical systems undergoing contamination induced gaseous decomposition reactions, material oxidation or corrosion involving oxygen consumption, the Fast Thermal Activity Interpreter determines activation energies and rate laws at ambient temperature conditions.
As a result, counter-measures can be activated to negate or control the reaction.
Intended for use on-site or on-line by technicians, operation of the instrument simply requires scrolling though a library of conditions and the appropriate method selected with the press of a button.
Once the testing process is complete, results can then be presented either by a standard LCD display or compact flash memory card.
Other options include a printer or the results can be sent to an Internet web server.
"We believe our Fast Thermal Activity Interpreter will be widely used to monitor many type of chemicals," said Kris Fauske, FAI's vice-president of operations and chemical systems. "Unlike instruments from other vendors that often cost in excess of $100,000 and take sixteen hours or more to complete a single analysis, FAI's instrument costs around $20,000 and has a measurement time of about one hour."
