A Fist Full of Examples: The good, the
bad and the ugly
Dr I Fletcher
Examples of fire fighting activities performed
at the ICI laboratory, included:
 |
Catalyst deactivation
problem
|
|
Coated wire adhesion
problem
|
|
Disposable nappy development
|
|
Particulate contamination
problem
|
Catalyst problem:
Problem 1, was a £0.5Million
catalyst, which was fitted to a new plant and then failed
within 15 minutes of its initial operation. Why, could they
repair the damage or would they have to fit a new catalyst?
ToF-SIMS analysis of the deactivated catalyst
showed the presence of PrBr3 on the
surface and the presence of Cu in the surface of the catalyst.
Where did these materials come from?
The catalyst had a heat exchanger, which was braised using
a copper-based compound. This had been run prior to the
running of the plant and they had corroded and released
the materials onto the catalyst. The heat exchangers were
taken off-line and the catalyst was regenerated by high
temperature treatment of the material, so the plant could
be put back on-line.
Coated wire problem:
Poor adhesion between the PE coated wire
and the UV curable resin during testing. Why?
SIMS showed that EBS had segregated to
the interface but how? The wire manufacturer initially claimed
that EBS was not used, but then said that in a court of
law they could not claim that EBS would not be present in
the wire. Changing the wire supplier improved the performance
of the product and the bond.
Disposable Nappy Development:
Spin finish to fibres to improving the
transport of material through the nappy and keeping the
internal surface dry.
Imaging SIMS showed that the coatings were
more evenly distributed along the fibres of the ICI prepared
material compared to the competitor's product. This indicated
that the ICI treated fibres would perform better than the
main competition.
Particle Contamination on a Floppy Disc:
There was a small particle on the floppy
disc, which could be due to the coating process. SIMS analysis
of the 5micron particle showed that it was PET based while
the coating on the DISC was not PET based. The particle
must therefore have been deposited due the disc manufacturing
process not during the coating of the main disc.
|
