Substitution of Lithium Hydroxide by Sofnolime® 797 Grade (Military)
The Customer Issue
Gas Consulting is an Italian company based in Milan. During May 2008 they enquired about CO2 management using lithium hydroxide and oxygen generators in a military shelter.
However lithium hydroxide has a vigorous exothermic reaction.
Understanding the Issue
At this stage a detailed specification was requested. The 1,500m3 Safe Haven was designed for 70 people for seven days. The Safe Haven had an air recirculation rate of 13,500m3 per hour.
Based on the limited information available the estimated weight of Lithium Hydroxide required could be as high as 800kg occupying a volume of 1600 litres.
The Solution
Molecular Products responded to the enquiry and proactively suggested soda lime as a safer alternative and were able to show that, on a volume for volume basis Sofnolime® 797 Grade could provide an equivalent performance to lithium hydroxide, with a lower biohazard risk and price.
The volume of soda lime recommended provided an excess of overall capacity if properly managed. The customer was cautioned to balance standing concentration, recirculation rates and residence time of the atmosphere in the absorber cartridge(s).
Molecular Products was able to save the customer time and costs by ruling out several projected combinations.
The Results
Based on the technical inputs and support offered by Molecular Products, Gas Consulting is now considering using Sofnolime® 797 Grade in other applications, some of which would be much more demanding.