{"operation":"document","citation":"11-0242","title":"Dynax Corporation — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2011-11-15","effective_on":null,"summary":"11-0242 response to Dynax Corporation concerning 172.101, 173.120.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-11-0242.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-11-0242.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-11-0242","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2011/110242.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nu.s. Department Washington, DC 20590\n1200 New Jersey Avenue SE\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\nNOV 0 2 2011\nChang Jho, Ph.D.\nDynax Corporation\n79 Westchester A venue\nPound Ridge, NY 10576\nReference No. 11·0242\nDear Dr. Jho:\nThis is in response to your September 26, 2011 e-mail toCharlesKe.Ph.D.• Chemist.Sciences\nBranch, Engineering and Research Division, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration (PHMSA). Dr. Ke forwarded your e-mail to PHMSA's Standards and\nRulemaking Division for reply. Specifically, you ask if a concentrated surfactant solution that\nhas a flash point of27 °C and a boiling point greater 100°C but does not sustain combustibility is\nexcepted from regulation as a flammable liquid under the Hazardous Materials Regulations\n(HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171·180).\nYou state the solution contains solids (40 percent), water, and some tert·Butyl alcohol, which is\ndescribed as \"UN 1120, Butanols, 3, PG II or III\" in the HMR's Hazardous Materials Table\n(§ 172.101). You also enclosed a copy of a September 20, 2011 \"Sustained Combustibility\nTesting\" laboratory report, No. 11212, prepared by Stresau Laboratory, Inc., which concludes\nthat the sample it tested \"did not appear to sustain combustion at either the 60.5 °C or the 75.0 °C\ntemperatures tested, which were raised to temperatures corresponding to actual barometric\npressures at test initiations in order to compensate for the lower than standard barometric\npressures as required by\" the required testing criteria. It also describes these tests as being in\ncompliance with the requirements of the HMR and United Nations Transport of Dangerous\nGoods Manual of Tests and Criteria, fifth revised edition (2009), Test Method L.2.\nUnder the HMR, a material that is a liquid with a flash point ofnot more than 60°C (140 OF)\nmeets the definition of a flammable liquid (see § 173.120(a)). However, if experience or other\ndata indicates that the hazard of flammable liquid or combustible liquid material is greater or less\nthan indicated by the criteria specified in § 173.120(a) or (b), the Associate Administrator of\nHazardous Materials Safety may revise the classification or make the material subject or not\nsubject to the requirements of 49 CFR Parts 170-189 (see § 173.l20(d)). After reviewing the test\ndata and analysis submitted with your request, we agree that the \"concentrated surfactant\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nsolution\" you described may be excepted from regulation under the HMR, under the provisions\nof § 173.l20(d), as a Class 3 (flammable liquid) material.\nI hope this satisfies your request.\nSincerely,\n\"r-'7.dn~;L~~:---·\nT.\nGlenn Foster\nChief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n2\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nDrakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA)\nFrom: Foster, Glenn (PHMSA) /1t;mm(1/6 It- J./jvI~\nSent: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 9:05 AM\nTo: Drakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA) /1- &.2 r(2Cc:\nSupko, Ben (PHMSA)\nSubject: FW: Sustained Combustibility and Flash Point of liquids\nAttachments: Stresau-Lab-ReportDX2200.pdf\nCarolyn,\nPlease log the attached in as a request for interpretation.\nThanks,\nGlenn\nFrom: Ke, Charles (PHMSA)\nSent: Monday, September 26, 2011 2:05 PM\nTo: Supko, Ben (PHMSA); Foster, Glenn (PHMSA)\nCc: Ke, Charles (PHMSA)\nSubject: FW: Sustained Combustibility and Flash Point of liquids\nThis gentlemean need a formal interpretation on flammable liquid. Please give him a response.\nCharles Ke\nFrom: Chang Jho [mailto:chang.jho@dynaxcorp.com]\nSent: Monday, September 26, 2011 11:26 AM\nTo: Ke, Charles (PHMSA)\nCc: Steve Borsody\nSubject: Sustained Combustibility and Flash Point of liquids\nDear Dr. Ke,\nTom Basham at Stresau Lab in Wisconsin referred me to you. We recently submitted to the lab one of our\nproducts called DX2200, basically a concentrated (40% solids) surfactant solution in water containing\nsome t-butanol, for Sustained Combustibility Test based on the UN Transport of Dangerous Goods-Manual\nof Test and Criteria and US 49CFR. We submitted the sample to determine if it is considered flammable for\ntransportation purposes under the regulations. As you know, both the UN and 49CFR standards allow\nexceptions to the classification of flammable liquids (Class 3) which is based on the flash point. According\nto the above standards, \"liquids with a flash pOint greater than 35°C that do not sustain combustion\" are\nexceptions to the Class 3 definition of a flammable liquid, i.e. a liquid having a flash point of <;;;;: 60.S°C.\nOur product, again, is a highly concentrated water-based surfactant solution with the following\ncharacteristics:\n· Flash point: 27°C (mainly due to the presence of t-butanol)\n· Boiling pOint: >100oC\n· Does not support sustained combustibility according to the test protocols of the UN and 49CFR\nstandards. In fact, you cannot torch the product to induce combustion.\n(I attached the test report from Stresau Lab.)\nAccording to the test results, we believe our product is not a flammable liquid despite its flash point lower\nthan the 350C mentioned in the standards. We cannot find any relevance of this particular temperature of\n1\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\n350C regarding the exceptional provision. It might have been derived from the initial boiling pOints for\npacking group designation.\nThe question is: Is our product a Class 3 flammable liquid? We would 'appreciate it very much if you could\nrender an official interpretation.\nSincerely,\nChang Jho\nChang Jho, Ph.D, Dynax Corporation, 79 Westchester Ave., Pound Ridge, NY 10576\nTel: 914-764-0202, Fax: 914-764-0553, e-mail: !=hang.jho@dynaxcorp.com\n2","truncated":false,"body_characters":5592}