Chlorine Explosion?

[Mike C.]

Hey all,

First off I work at a pool club and a had today we had a chemical explosion. Thankfully I was not in the pumphouse but one of my friends was in there. I got a call when this happened and went to work, unfortunately the club was blocked off. I talked to an officer and they said it was an explosion caused by an oxidizer. I assume this can be chlorine tablets?

Does anyone know the cause of this? The pump house has little to no circulation which I was wondering if it was a factor. Also what are the health risks included with this? Last I heard was that my friend could not see and was rushed to the hospital. Any information on this topic would be great, thanks for your time.

Mike

[RMS]

Hey all,

First off I work at a pool club and a had today we had a chemical explosion. Thankfully I was not in the pumphouse but one of my friends was in there. I got a call when this happened and went to work, unfortunately the club was blocked off. I talked to an officer and they said it was an explosion caused by an oxidizer. I assume this can be chlorine tablets?

Does anyone know the cause of this? The pump house has little to no circulation which I was wondering if it was a factor. Also what are the health risks included with this? Last I heard was that my friend could not see and was rushed to the hospital. Any information on this topic would be great, thanks for your time.

Mike

Many times you may have an explosion when you add water to a chemical, instead of the chemical to the water, or if you mix wet and dry chemicals like muriatic acid to Calcium Hypochloride, which is granular chlorine.

Always keep liquid and dry chemicals seperated and wear goggles and rubber gloves when dealing with chemicals.

http://www.clean-pool-and-spa.com/swimming-safety.html

[billp]

What kind of chemicals do you keep around there?

There are (at least) two ways to get a "chlorine explosion." If you mix cal hypo tablets with triclor tablets in a feeder it can explode. If you have cal hypo laying around and it gets contaminated (even with water) it can catch fire.

[quantumchromodynamics]

"The reaction of an isocyanurate (Dichlor, trichlor) with hypochlorite (calcium hypochlorite) can result in rapid formation of nitrogen trichloride, which at high enough concentrations will detonate spontaneously with great violence."

http://www.taylortechnologies.com/Chemistr...SP?ContentID=73