Effect of Water Flow Rate on Decontamination Efficiency of Emergency Safety Showers

Standards for overhead emergency safety showers used for decontamination in laboratories and production sites specify the spray pattern and the water flow rate. Up to now, there has not been a scientific basis for these requirements. The decontamination of water‐soluble contaminants has been investi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemical engineering & technology 2014-09, Vol.37 (9), p.1559-1565
Main Authors: Brock, Thomas, Heil, Volker, Philipp, Hermann, Seifert, Ulrich, Steffens, Wilfried, Timm, Kurt
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Conductivity measurement
Decontamination
Emergencies
Emergency safety shower
Safety
Showers
Sprayers
Sprays
Water flow
Water flow rate
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Summary:Standards for overhead emergency safety showers used for decontamination in laboratories and production sites specify the spray pattern and the water flow rate. Up to now, there has not been a scientific basis for these requirements. The decontamination of water‐soluble contaminants has been investigated using 15 customary shower heads at different water flow rates. A general relationship between water flow rate and decontamination effectiveness could not be established: At a low flow rate, the wash‐off time in general did not exceed the time observed at considerably higher flow rates. The shortest decontamination time has been found with a spray pattern that does not fulfil current standards. “The more the better” does not apply to overhead emergency safety showers for decontamination after chemical accidents if the effect of water flow rate on wash‐off time is considered. A survey with 15 customary shower heads indicates other factors like the wetting degree, which denotes the local and temporal uniformity of wetting, affecting the wash‐off efficiency.
ISSN:0930-7516
1521-4125
DOI:10.1002/ceat.201400142