Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

- Chemsafe... on the web: Internet version
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 Update 2011
What is new in Chemsafe?

Knowledge of the safety characteristics for fire and explosion protection is an indispensable prerequisite for assessing the fire and explosion hazards which may arise during the processing, filling, storage, transport and disposal of flammable substances.

Data already rated by experts must, therefore, be placed at the user's disposal, because he often does not have the required technical knowledge. These data must always be up-to-date and readily available.

All these requirements are met by the CHEMSAFE data base which has been accessible on-line since 1989.

CHEMSAFE is a joint project of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) and the Gesellschaft für Chemische Technik und Biotechnologie e.V. (DECHEMA).

PTB and BAM collect the data, check them for reliability and enter them into the data base. CHEMSAFE is responsible for the organizational and technical aspects of the data base. CHEMSAFE was sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology, the Federal Ministry of Economics, the General Association of Employment Accident Insurance Funds, and the Association of the Chemical Industry.

At present, CHEMSAFE contains rated safety characteristics of about 3000 flammable liquids, gases and dusts.

Some of the properties stored in CHEMSAFE are:

• Safety characteristics:
  flashpoint, autoignition temperature, explosion limits, minimum ignition energy, maximum experimental safe gap
• Physico-chemical quantities:
  melting and boiling temperature, density, calorific value
• References
• Description of substances:
  name, empirical formula, CAS registration number, EC and UN numbers, classifications according to German and international regulations.

These data are obtained from searches in literature and data bases as well as from measurements of the PTB and BAM laboratories specialized in safety technology (flammable liquids and flammable gases and dusts, respectively).

The well-known MESSENGER language is available for on-line retrieval in CHEMSAFE. The in-house version of the data base offers a graphical user environment. These user interfaces enable fast and successful access to the data also for the unexperienced user.

The on-line data base is offered all over the world by STN International.

Since  October  1999  the new CHEMSAFE Internet Client allows comfortable access to the total CHEMSAFE database via Internet.   An overview is given by DECHEMA.

Two in-house versions are available: One version uses the ORACLE software running on UNIX/Linux workstations (X-Windows) as well as on personal computers (MS-Windows).

The second version is a standalone version which delivers the recommended values without background literature and does not need additional database software.