Fauske & Associates - The Netherlands Opens

Fauske & Associates (FAI) - The Netherlands, a new engineering and testing thermal hazards laboratory located in Geleen, officially opened July 4.

"We are pleased to further meet the direct needs of many of our European customers," said Fauske & Associates LLC president Kris Fauske. "The need for an on-site laboratory presence was growing, in particular, for thermal hazards. FAI’s thermal hazards group uses many tools with extensive expertise to understand and eliminate undesired reactions, accommodate process upset scenarios, and design a client’s desired process chemistry."

Thermal stability testing aims to collect reaction rate data to assess whether a specified quantity of a material can be safely used while avoiding runaway reactions. This data is important when considering processing, long-term storage or shipping of a material. Among the many tests and services we provide are determining critical safety parameters to avoid undesired reactions. FAI performs heat flow and adiabatic calorimetry using:

• Vent Sizing Package 2 (VSP2TM)
• Advanced Reactive Systems Screening Tool (ARSSTTM)
• Thermal Activity Monitor (TAM)
• Seteram C80
• Accelerating Rate Calorimeter (ARC®)
• Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC)
• Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA)

To determine required cooling capacity, understand process changes and scale-up implications, FAI performs reaction calorimetry using:
• THT- RC
• Mettler-Toledo RC1
• ChemiSens CPA 202

To classify materials for transportation, FAI performs the following UN Transport tests:
• Class 4, Division 4.1 Flammable Solids
• Class 4, Division 4.2 Substances Liable to Spontaneous Combustion
• Class 4, Division 4.3 Dangerous When Wet
• Class 4, Division 5.1 Oxidizing Solids

Manager of process safety services Márton Harsányi and Simon Hans Niemann, both chemical engineers, will lead the Netherlands location, bringing many years of process safety analysis, SHE-consultancy, and HAZOP expertise to the region. They will report to Kenneth Kurko, director of process safety services. In addition to managing process safety laboratories, lecturing, and training (ExELect Experimental Explosion Lecture), customer data and reporting, the pair also have experience:

• Designing, completing, and coordinating all-round thermal safety and plant feasibility studies for technologies intended for scale up or technologies applied already in production
• Determining reaction heat measurement with characterization of heat and gas generation properties by reaction calorimeter and PAT (RC1 + ReactIR, CALO 2310pro)
• Determining thermal stability and reaction kinetics for reaction mixtures and synthesis intermediates by adiabatic calorimeters (ARSST, VSP2, PHI TEC II), thermoanalytical equipment (DSC, HPDSC, TGA), and reaction kinetics simulation software (AKTS)
• Providing process safety classification of chemical processes and compounds
• Participating in compilation of Safety and Hazard Risk Evaluation and HAZOP studies
• Selecting and optimizing pharmaceutical processes intended for scale up and technological transfer to pilot plants in collaboration with API synthetic laboratories, API development laboratories, and analytical department
• Providing technological scale up and related optimization in pilot plant in cooperation with development laboratory, analytical department and process safety laboratory; control of plant activities

"FAI has developed key instruments and engineering methods for solving process safety problems,” said Fauske. “As a world leader in nuclear, industrial, and chemical solutions, we felt it important to go beyond our on-site consulting services for our European customers and create a local presence for the lab work."

FAI the Netherlands location is a branch of WEC UK Ltd.

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