[neact] Re: More on HS chlorate explosion
- From: Kenneth Bowers <klbowers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: neact@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:49:24 -0500
I have conducted what I believe is the same experiment many times.
I always have done the experiment outside.
Can you provide more information on the catalyst used ?
Was concentrated sulfuric acid part of the experiment ?
Retired now from full time teaching. I still work on a regulart basis
as a substitute.
Kenneth Bowers
On Jan 22, 2010, at 12:22 PM, Stephen Stepenuck wrote:
Some follow-up info on the high school potassium chlorate
explosion. This too is from the ACS Division of Chemical Health and
Safety’s email list.
This account seems to me to be a strong argument for purchase and
use of portable safety shields, and long heavy gloves for the teacher.
[Apologies for accidental post earlier. Maybe when I’m 137 I’ll
learn to triple-check the address line...]
Steve
* * * * * * *
New York
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2010/01/21/news/doc4b57e5a7a5748273921860.txt
Teacher recovering; cause of blast uncertain
Published: Thursday, January 21, 2010
By JAY BRAMAN JR.
Correspondent
BOICEVILLE — The explosion on Tuesday that injured an Onteora High
School chemistry teacher and seven of his students came as a
surprise to everyone, but probably no one more than the longtime
teacher himself.
Donald Bucher was demonstrating an experiment with the chemical
potassium chlorate when the explosion — which was strong enough to
damage a window in the classroom — occurred. Onteora school district
Superintendent Leslie Ford said on Wednesday that Bucher had
conducted the same experiment dozens of times before, without
incident, and that the cause of the explosion remained a mystery.
Ford said Bucher was resting at home on Wednesday, recovering from
his injury, and that an investigation of the incident will begin
shortly.
“We still don’t know what happened,” the superintendent said. “But
we will debrief Mr. Bucher when he is well enough to return.”
Ford said a small piece of glass punctured Bucher’s arm and cut an
artery. “He was bleeding quite a lot,” she said.
A reporter’s calls to Bucher’s home were not answered on Wednesday.
The seven students who were injured, all 11th-graders, were treated
at Kingston and Benedictine hospitals, primarily for minor cuts, and
released.
Ford said the explosion occurred when Bucher dropped a stick of gum
into a test tube containing potassium chlorate, a chemical used in
matches, explosives, gunpowder and fireworks.
Ford said school district officials reviewed the chemistry class’
lesson plan and concluded the experiment had been performed safely
by Bucher in the past. She also said it is a standard high school
chemistry experiment and that Bucher executed each of its steps
properly on Wednesday.
“The goal of the experiment was to determine the amount of oxygen in
the potassium chlorate,” Ford said.
The superintendent said possible causes of the accident were a
faulty test tube or the chemical itself being compromised.
All the remaining potassium chlorate in the classroom was removed,
bagged locked in a secure location elsewhere in the building by
Michael O’Rourke of the Risk Management Department at Ulster BOCES,
Ford said.
O’Rourke said on Wednesday that the chemical will be disposed of
properly and other chemicals in the school will be checked for
problems.
According to a Web site co-maintained by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, potassium chlorate is a white
crystalline solid. It is used in matches, explosives, gunpowder and
fireworks; as a disinfectant; and as an oxidizing agent. It forms a
flammable mixture with combustible materials, and the mixture can be
explosive if combustible material is finely divided.
Potassium chlorate can be ignited by friction, and contact with
strong sulfuric acid may cause fires or explosions, according to the
Web site. Also, it may spontaneously decompose and ignite when mixed
with ammonium salts and may explode under prolonged exposure to heat
or fire.
Ulster County Emergency Management Director Art Snyder appeared
before the Onterora Board of Education during the body’s regularly
scheduled meeting Tuesday evening. He outlined the procedures for
hazardous materials disposal, though Ford noted the procedures were
not required in Tuesday’s incident.
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