flammable storage

[sotc]

ive got alot of aerosols and oils in the shop. at one of my old jobs we had a flammables cabinet made of steel. i think it was vented. anyway ive been just storing in a wooden cabinet and just came into a nice steel tool box cabinet and thought of using that but im not sure if i need a vented one or not. i see both side of a vented cabinet as far as safety and think it should be. any one know?

 

[MasterBlaster]

I doubt your wooden cabinet is airtight, but if I was worried I would drill some ventilation holes in it.

I think I assward your question...

 

[sotc]

no but i got a new steel cabinet that is and was thinking i might use it

 

[SkwerI]

I'm no expert but I'd expect a chemical cabinet to have vents up high. Rising fumes should be above head height as well as above the height of somebody lighting a cigarette.

 

[sotc]

or grinding and welding

 

[woodworkingboy]

Chemical cabs don't mean much if you leave oil laden rags around.....a major cause of shop fires......not that sotc leaves too flammable rags around.

 

[JonnyHart]

Be sure to ground it too. Static sparks can ruin your day. At DuPont, we got big steel yellow flammable liquid cabinets bolted into the ground (cement) and a ground cable going from cabinet to a steel beam or railing. Can't say they're airtight for certain, but the doors have gaskets and there are not vents.
I think the idea is that a fire can burn inside for so long it without spreading.

 

[sotc]

would you look if you think about it jonny?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Heck, just ground it. WTH.

 

[sotc]

Can't say they're airtight for certain, but the doors have gaskets and there are not vents.
.

this part

 

[JonnyHart]

Will do, Willie, but it may be 2 or 3 days.
Also, I would think bolting it into a cement floor would ground it, but DuPont is nuts about safety, thus the grounding cable.

 

[Wagnaw]

Yeah, OSHA requires all our chainsaws and gas cans to be stored in a yellow steel storage closet, grounded, no vents except for one, which is a 4" pvc tube that vents from in the metal closet to the outside of the shop. Tube comes out of the shop wall outside at 8' off the ground. All OSHA standard.

 

[sotc]

cool thanks guys. its up on a wooden bench so i guess i ought to run a cable down

 

[JonnyHart]

Hey Willie, I took a good look at the flammable cabinets yesterday at work. I was very wrong in my earlier posts in this thread. There is no gasket around the doors, they shut nice and tight, with no gaps. There are vents on the sides, but not open grate vents, they bear a strong resemblance to bung caps found on 55 gallon drums, so they can be positively opened or closed. On one side of the cabinet the vent is down low close to the floor, on the other side the vent is up near the top of the cabinet, cause depending on the substance, the vapors may be heavier or lighter than air (gasoline vapors are heavy). The cabinet including the door is all double walled steel, and I wonder if there may be a fire proof (or resistant) insulation between the walls.

 

[sotc]

interesting, thanks johnny!

 

[Reddog]

Here is some of the best reading I have found on the idea, and requirments. This may not meet the requirments for all states, but gives a good overview of the ideas.

http://www.ehs.psu.edu/help/info_sheets/flammable_liquid_storage_cabinet_faq.pdf

Q: Why store flammable and combustible liquids inside a flammable liquid storage cabinet?
A: To protect flammable liquids against flash fire, to prevent the containers from building excessive internal pressure, and to contain spilled flammable liquids that can further spread fire. The pictures above demonstrate how flammable storage cabinets effectively protect the contents inside from fire. Fire burnt the exterior of the storage cabinet; flammable solvents inside were protected from the fire

Q: Should the flammable liquid storage cabinet be vented?
A: When used for storage of closed containers, a flammable liquid storage cabinet is not required to be vented for fire protection purposes. Vent openings must be sealed with the bungs supplied with the cabinet or with bungs specified by the cabinet manufacturer. If venting is required for other reasons such as personnel exposure or dispensing operations within the cabinet, then venting using the opening provided by the manufacturer shall be provided with metallic vent pipe directly to outdoors or to the fume hood exhaust duct in a manner that is acceptable to the EHS Fire Protection Engineer.
Proper venting practices: remove steel bungs from the factory furnished vent ports; connect metal vent pipe directly to the lower vent port since hydrocarbon vapors are usually heavier than air; inspect the upper vent port to ensure the flame arrestor is installed. The upper ventport with the flame arrestor will provide make up air for efficient purging.

Q: Should the flammable liquid storage cabinet be grounded?
A: No, unless you are dispensing from one of the containers when it is sitting inside the cabinet.

 

[sotc]

excelent info, thanks!

 

[JonnyHart]

I really disagree with that last one. Flammable vapors may be present, wether or not you're dispensing from a container in the cabinet, and one static spark is all it takes.

 

[sotc]

i think what its saying is an arc can travel down the liquid to find ground as opposed to taking the can out and setting it down grounds it. maybe, makes sence in my simple mind