Citation

Hutches K, Lord J. J. Forensic Sci. 2012; 57(4): 1064-1069.

Affiliation

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Forensic Science Laboratory, 355 North Wiget Lane, Walnut Creek, CA 94598. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Fire Research Laboratory, 6000 Ammendale Road, Ammendale, MD 20705.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1556-4029.2012.02078.x

PMID

22335833

Abstract

This paper investigates the reaction between pool chlorinators and gasoline. In particular, the propensity for self-ignition and the resulting chemical products were studied. An organic pool chlorinator was combined with gasoline in varying proportions in an attempt to form a hypergolic mixture. None of the combinations resulted in self-ignition, but larger quantities of chlorinator produced vigorous light-colored smoke and a solid mass containing isocyanuric acid and copper chloride. Additionally, the chlorinating abilities of different commercially available pool chlorinators were explored. When Ca(ClO)(2) and sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione-based chlorinators were used, the presence of gasoline was still visible after 10 days, despite limited chlorination. The trichloro-s-triazinetrione-based chlorinator, however, caused efficient chlorination of the C(2) - and C(3) -alkylbenzenes, making gasoline no longer identifiable.

Language: en