American Chemical Society: I’m May Nyman here to answer your questions
about the August 12 warehouse explosion in Tianjin, China, AMA!
Abstract
Hello, May Nyman here, professor of chemistry at Oregon State
University. A warehouse exploded in Tianjin, China last week that did
the damage of 20 tons of dynamite, felt like an earthquake, looked like
a nuclear explosion from space, but we don’t know yet what caused it.
Many different chemicals were stored in that warehouse, and scientists
and other experts can only hypothesize what happened, and what will
happen next. At Oregon State University, I run a research lab, training
young scientists from all over the country and the world. We are
inorganic synthetic chemists, and we make materials for energy and
environmental applications. For example, we collaborate with other
scientists in the Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry developing
low energy methods to make the materials you find inside your smartphone
and computer. We also work with scientists in the Energy Frontier
Research Center, Materials Science of Actinides to discover new ways to
make nuclear energy more efficient and safer. For the Department of
Energy, we figure out ways to make new materials with new properties. I
have not always been a professor; for only three years in fact. I
started my career at Sandia National Labs, studying nuclear wastes, and
inventing ways to remove the radioactive elements and store them safely.
I also figured out ways to make the water that we drink cleaner. But
what I love most of all about chemistry is the beautiful and perfectly
functional things in nature that are completely composed of the elements
of the periodic table; including rocks and minerals, butterfly wings,
leaves, and DNA! August 12, 2015 was a sad day for chemists when such a
tragic accident happened that gives chemistry a bad name, and results in
people fearing chemicals. The officials do not yet know what exactly
happened, what caused the explosion, how it could’ve been prevented, and
which chemicals stored in the warehouse might have been the source of
explosion. We also do not know why the fish are dying and why ‘soap
suds’ are observed everywhere after it rained in Tianjin. We do not know
what the short-term or long-term impact of this accident will be, or if
the people living near the accident site or sites like it are in danger
of future explosions. We know of about a half dozen chemicals that were
stored there including calcium carbide; ammonium potassium and sodium
nitrate; sodium cyanide; toluene diisocyanate; and compressed gases. As
scientists, we can form hypotheses of what chemical reactions could have
occurred in Tianjin at the scene of this most unfortunate event. Update:
strangely enough there was a second warehouse explosion a few hundred
miles away, 10 days later in Shandong; the chemical mentioned here is
adiponitrile I’ll be back at 1:00pm ET to begin answering your
questions. EDIT: 9:53 PT good day Reddit community, Thank you for all
your questions. I am online now until 2:00 Eastern time. May Nyman EDIT:
11:10 PT. thank you for all the fantastic questions and comments, Reddit
community. My official hour is up, and I need to take a break and work
on my day job. I will come back at 3:00 PT to answer some more
questions. May Nyman EDIT: 2:59 PT I am back to answer a few more of
these many many questions. and I will be sure to address storage, as
this question comes up in various forms. May Nyman EDIT: 3:49 PT. It has
been fun talking with you, Reddit community. A good day to all. May
Nyman