mixing kitty litter and... kaboom?

[madwabbit]

yeah, but we don't sell pool chems. brake fluid and oils, sure.

and that lit in a few seconds- this took hours.

 

[JHenley17]

You guys don't have an MSDS at least for the chemicals that were probably in there? It might be able to help figure out what could have mixed.

 

[madwabbit]

You guys don't have an MSDS at least for the chemicals that were probably in there? It might be able to help figure out what could have mixed.

literally hundreds- potentially. if it was a simple process of elimination I'd just post the list. It was more just "amusing" until the good ol boy said "last time this happened they didnt get here so fast, it burnt a LOT of stuff"


eh wait, LAST TIME? wtf guys.

 

[Hitman]

Pool shock and brake cleaner will combust FWIW.

A Flammable and an Oxidizer.
I'd almost say, THEY BETTER!

Sorry not nearly as mesmerizing as spontaneous combustion
from non-flammables though

 

[beauxdog]

Hey Guys,

Anytime you mix an oxidizer with a petroleum based material, you run the risk of a fire. Chlorine/bleach are oxidizers and will when mixed with oil will start a fire. If you need more answers, call the Louisiana State Fire Marshall's office. They can provide you with all the information you need. After working in the petro-chemical industry for 36 years it was very important to watch what waste went where. Fires and explosions have happened by folks being careless with waste material.

Beauxdog

 

[madwabbit]

Hey Guys,

Anytime you mix an oxidezer with a petroleum based material, you run the risk of a fire. Chlorine/bleach are oxidizers and will when mixed with oil will start a fire. If you need more answers, call the Louisiana State Fire Marshall's office. They can provide you with all the information you need. After working in the petro-chemical industry for 36 years it was very important to watch what waste went where. Fires and explosions have happened by folks being careless with waste material.

Beauxdog

our fire marshall said it was likely the kitty litter and oil.

our Fresh Step is clay based...

I'm not saying he's discredited, I'm just saying that I'm admittedly confused.

 

[beauxdog]

Did you tell him there was petroleum products & bleach mixed in there. Hard for me to believe he said that in the first place. As a response team member we carried kitty litter to pick up oil spills. Sure you weren't talking to secratary or something.

Beauxdog

 

[Hitman]

Did you tell him there was petroleum products & bleach mixed in there. Hard for me to believe he said that in the first place. As a response team member we carried kitty litter to pick up oil spills. Sure you weren't talking to secratary or something.

Beauxdog

Yea but he may be attributing the Kitty Litter to being (Soaked with oil) when he says
the Kitty Litter was the cause.

Surely he doesn't mean JUST the litter.

 

[Vermiform]

Did you tell him there was petroleum products & bleach mixed in there. Hard for me to believe he said that in the first place. As a response team member we carried kitty litter to pick up oil spills. Sure you weren't talking to secratary or something.

Beauxdog

Not all Fire Marshalls are created equally.

 

[tim9lives]

Cooking oils(as well as tung and linseed Oils) have long been known
for their spontaneous heating abilities.

The bleach plays no part.

There simply needs to be enough oxygen to allow a reaction
but not enough air flow to allow the heat to escape.
The oil and time does the rest.

Linseed oil will absolutely spontaneous combust. Never discard oil soaked rags without properly letting them hang and dry properly...or put them in a can. ( Other oils may also do the same. I don't know ??)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linseed_oil

Spontaneous combustion --Linseed oil wiki
Rags soaked with linseed oil stored in a pile are considered a fire hazard because they provide a large surface area for oxidation of the oil, and the oil oxidises quickly. The oxidation of linseed oil is an exothermic reaction, which accelerates as the temperature of the rags increases. When heat accumulation exceeds the rate of heat dissipation into the environment, the temperature increases and may eventually become hot enough to make the rags spontaneously combust.[30]
In 1991, One Meridian Plaza, a high rise in Philadelphia, was severely damaged and three firefighters perished in a fire caused by linseed oil-soaked rags.[31] In 2011, a garage in Sacramento also caught fire due to the spontaneous combustion of linseed oil-soaked rags. [32] In 2014, the Diamond Head home of Hawaii 5-0 actor Alex O'Loughlin was damaged in a similarly started fire. [33]
When the mummy of King Tutankhamen was examined by Howard Carter, he described the mummy as a "charred wreck". Investigation of the mummy by archeologist Chris Naunton revealed that, with the hasty preparations for the burial, after the body was sealed in its tomb, the linseed oil and linen used in elements of the mummification process resulted in spontaneous combustion that charred the body. [34]

 

[Hitman]

Linseed oil will absolutely spontaneous combust.

Yea....that's what I said....

 

[tim9lives]

Yea....that's what I said....

I know...I was agreeing with you Hitman.

FWIW....I was totally clueless about linseed oil until about a year ago. That's the only reason I added what I did.

 

[Hitman]

I know...I was agreeing with you Hitman.

FWIW....I was totally clueless about linseed oil until about a year ago. That's the only reason I added what I did.

Oh...you confused me quoting me and then telling me what I had just said.

Next time just say "I agree" .... AND etc etc etc

Just messing with ya

 

[madwabbit]

Did you tell him there was petroleum products & bleach mixed in there. Hard for me to believe he said that in the first place. As a response team member we carried kitty litter to pick up oil spills. Sure you weren't talking to secratary or something.

Beauxdog

mentioned the possibility of bleach etc but he was 100% convinced arson until I showed him the footage. Then he started saying kitty litter + vegetable oil or bleach + X... he pretty much did what I'm doing now lol.

he didn't seem to be the umm, brightest crayon in the box- but he probably knows more about this than I do, so I kept my mouth shut.

 

[paddle007]

I can say with authority that gasoline and brake fluid will create pressure. I was working late one night when I about crapped in my pants because of a small explosion. We had a mixture of gasoline and brake fluid in an evacuator and it was not vented. It created its own venting system.

 

[Tigerfish]

Never mind. It was covered already.

 

[Gator 45/70]

Hope you get to the bottom of the cause rabbit.

We had a can of crushed pineapple blow up in the pantry Friday, I'm still scratching my head over that one.

 

[Vermiform]

Hope you get to the bottom of the cause rabbit.

We had a can of crushed pineapple blow up in the pantry Friday, I'm still scratching my head over that one.

Was it anywhere near kitty litter? That stuff is volatile!

 

[Hitman]

Your statement of bleach playing no part is not correct. The active ingredient in bleach is sodium hypochlorite. Hypochlorite is oxygen and chlorine.

Chlorine is not explosive or flammable, but can react violently with many substances.
Chlorine has the potential for violent or explosive reactions with certain substances. It is very important to separate chlorine from oils, greases, solvents, even in small amounts.

I work with and teach about this stuff for a living

So do I.

I know we just love to tell other people their (wrong) on forums but my post was to the
point of the oils mentioned not needing bleach as an aid to combust.

Had you read more than that post you'd
have seen that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dblb]

Hey rabbit ...we've been taught to regard the kitty litter we use to clean spills with as haz-mat until properly disposed of. One thing I didn't realize, which should have been obvious is that the absorbent doesn't negate the properties of the material it absorbs. A flammable will still be a flammable etc etc. It's s.o.p. now to package the used absorbent in separate haz-mat containers until dealt with. Just made good sense after our HSE director pointed it out.