To provide a glimpse of what kind of fun I get to have in process safety, I wanted to start a series of chemical profiles of some of the nasty hazardous materials I work with and why so many of my clients are such sticklers for meeting all of the different codes/standards/RAGAGEPS to the letter in the design, construction and maintenance of their process(s). Let’s face it, some of these chemicals we may not get a 2nd chance. One such chemical I began working with during my time at Great Lakes Chemical is Furan (Cas# 110-00-9). Furan is a Category 1 Flammable Liquid, one of the true flammable liquids that carry an NFPA Flammability rating of 4. I have only worked with two flammable LIQUIDS that rise to an NFPA 704 Diamond Flammability rating of a 4: Furan and Trichlorosilane (Semi-Conductor business). There just are not a lot of CAT 1 Flammable Liquids. But Furan beat our Trichlorosilane because not only are they both CAT 1 Flammable Liquids, Furan has an IDLH of 13 ppm!! That folks is what I call the double-whammy! EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE and EXTREMELY TOXIC. So let’s look at Furan and the hazards it presents: