The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.
There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report. This way the teacher has the option! Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout.
A 5-Star Customer Review of Chemistry on a Budget at amazon.com states:
“[S]traight forward, to the point, using household chemicals… this is the lab book for you.
I teach high school chemistry and this is exactly what I was looking for. Labs included simple household chemicals that could be easily found. Nice format, easy to follow along procedures, and touches on every topic of our chemistry curriculum.”
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you -- Order Now. It’s a great resource!
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget
http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html
*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
“Crews have extinguished a fire that burned for several days at a Houston-area petrochemicals storage facility [on March 20, 2019]”.
International Terminals Company [ITC] said the blaze in Deer Park was extinguished as of 3 a.m. Wednesday [3/20/2018]. The fire began Sunday [3/17/2019] at the facility southeast of Houston, sending a huge, dark plume of smoke thousands of feet in the air, though officials said air quality remained safe.
Crews will continue to spray foam and water on the storage tanks that caught fire to cool them down and prevent the fire from reigniting, the company said, adding that steam and smoke will be visible, and the fire could still flare back up.
The tanks that caught fire contained components of gasoline and materials used in nail polish remover, glues and paint thinner.”
http://time.com/5554796/houston-petrochemicals-fire-contained/
Days later, “[a] fire at a petrochemical plant outside of Houston briefly reignited Friday [3/21/2019], sending up another plume of black smoke at a site where a blaze had erupted earlier this week. The fire was preceded by a chemical spill into the Houston Ship Channel.
As of Friday afternoon [3/21/2019], the fire at a tank farm operated by the Intercontinental Terminals Co. in the city of Deer Park, just east of Houston, appeared to be contained, according to local reports. The incident delayed cleanup efforts for the original blaze which was initially extinguished on Wednesday [3/19/2019] after local authorities had issued shelter-in-place alerts to area residents. In the aftermath of that fire, the Environmental Protection Agency detected elevated levels of benzene.
The cause of Friday's [03/21/2019] fire is still unknown. There are no reported injuries.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an environmental lawsuit against Intercontinental Terminals claiming violations of state clean air laws.
‘ITC has a history of environmental violations, and this latest incident is especially disturbing and frightening,’ Paxton said in a statement. ‘No company can be allowed to disrupt lives and put public health and safety at risk.’
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/22/706082075/petrochemical-fire-reignites-at-houston-area-fuel-storage-facility
“The all-important channel is described by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a manmade port for ocean-going vessels, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Houston and Harris County, Texas.
U.S. Coast Guard Captain Kevin Oditt said tests are being done to monitor the conditions of the channel. A tank ship successfully went through the area on Sunday. [03/24/2019]..
‘The goal was to assess the impact to the on-scene recovery operations as well as ensure that there was no visible oil on the hull. Both were successful,’ Oditt said.
A tank ship and tank barge were to be sent through the area on Monday, [03/25/2019], he said. The Coast Guard has opened the San Jacinto River, he said.’ “
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/25/us/deer-park-residents-environment/index.html
“Students returned to school Monday [03/25/2019] in an area southeast of Houston after a fire at a petrochemical storage facility prompted several days of canceled classes.
Students were back in class Monday [03/25/2019] in Deer Park, Galena Park and other communities near the International Terminals Company in Deer Park.
Classes were canceled because of concerns over air quality near the facility, which caught fire on March 17 [,2019] and burned for several days.
The fire destroyed or damaged storage tanks that contained components of gasoline and materials used in nail polish remover, glues and paint thinner.
Elevated levels of benzene were detected in the air Thursday, prompting officials to order people to remain indoors.
The fire also led to the closure of part of the Houston Ship Channel. The U.S. Coast Guard says it hopes to have the channel reopened Monday [, 03/25/2019].”
https://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Texas-students-return-to-school-following-petrochemical-fire-507619011.html
“Benzene has a pungent odor, and inhaling it can irritate the skin, eyes and the respiratory system, while severe exposure can harm the nervous system or lead to unconsciousness, according to experts. The EPA classifies benzene as a carcinogen.
The state’s environmental regulator said monitors detected up to 190.68 parts per billion of benzene in Deer Park early Thursday [03/20/2019], a level that can cause headaches and nausea. Deer Park sits on the Houston Ship Channel, an area with nine oil refineries and dozens of energy related facilities.
Total Petrochemicals and Refining USA, a unit of France’s Total SA, emptied several of its petrochemical tanks as a precaution, it reported to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The flaring released thousands of pounds of propene, a volatile organic compound, it said.
Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday [03/20/2019] had ordered employees to avoid an area at its facility where it had detected elevated levels of benzene.
‘Given our very conservative air quality standards we are at a level where out of an abundance of caution there should be a shelter in place,’ Lina Hidalgo, the chief executive of Harris County which encompasses Houston and its suburbs, said during a morning news conference. …
Harris County Fire Marshal Laurie Christensen said firefighters have continued to apply a foam blanket on the burn area to stop the escape of dangerous fumes.
TCEQ, one of the groups investigating the incident, estimated that on the first day of the fire, 6.2 million pounds of carbon monoxide and thousands of pounds of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and toluene were released. The regulator has cited ITC for violations of state air-emissions rules 39 times over the past 16 years.
The EPA is to test local waterways for possible contamination from the millions of gallons of water and foam dropped on the fire since Sunday. “
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-energy-houston-fire/houston-suburbs-lift-travel-restrictions-imposed-after-petrochemical-fire-idUSKCN1R21BH
“Pyrolysis gasoline, also known as ‘pygas’ is a benzene-rich liquid byproduct that can be blended with other chemicals for use as a gasoline additive. That chemical was the source of a benzene spike Thursday [03/20/2019] morning, after it leaked out from foam covering one of the tanks. City leaders issued a shelter in place that lasted several hours.
ITC officials estimated Thursday [03/20/2019] that 14,000 barrels of pygas remained in that tank. However, ITC officials said Friday [03/21/2019] that about 20,000 barrels remained.
Crews attempted to pump pygas from the tank on Thursday [03/20/2019], but the effort didn’t work, Weber said, in part because of a less-than-ideal environment concerning the positioning of the pump, Weber said.
Aside from the roughly 20,000 barrels of product in the one tank, about 40,000 more barrels are expected to be removed, Weber said. Not all tanks are compromised, but they contain pygas and naptha, which have some percentage of benzene.”
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/New-fire-erupts-at-Deer-Park-plant-as-leaking-13710439.php
“The San Jacinto River, a waterway leading into the ship channel and located north of ITC's facility, was reopened to barge and tow traffic but only for about three hours on Monday [03/25/2019].
The ship channel is one of the busiest commercial waterways in the country, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Houston.
Water samples from the Houston Ship Channel have been tested, but those results are still not complete, said Jeff Kunze, with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Over the weekend, benzene levels in the air were very high near the site of the fire, but they have dropped significantly, according to monitoring by the Environmental Defense Fund. The group also took water samples in Galveston Bay and is awaiting results.
Adam Adams, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said air monitoring from his agency as well as several others in the last 24 hours has not found any hazardous conditions that would require warning the public.”
https://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Texas-students-return-to-school-following-13714127.php
A Homework assignment may be to Students to define 10 terms in one article because of the multiple organic terms cited. One bonus question may for a student defining a term not cited by anybody else in the class or all classes.
These 2 articles present summaries that may be useful for a class assignment:
https://www.kbtx.com/content/news/fire-reignites-again-at-Deer-Park-facility--507533041.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/national-guard-called-houston-after-chemical-fire-residents-told-stay-n985776
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom. Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.
Have a great weekend!
There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report. This way the teacher has the option! Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout.
A 5-Star Customer Review of Chemistry on a Budget at amazon.com states:
“[S]traight forward, to the point, using household chemicals… this is the lab book for you.
I teach high school chemistry and this is exactly what I was looking for. Labs included simple household chemicals that could be easily found. Nice format, easy to follow along procedures, and touches on every topic of our chemistry curriculum.”
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you -- Order Now. It’s a great resource!
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget
http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html
*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
“Crews have extinguished a fire that burned for several days at a Houston-area petrochemicals storage facility [on March 20, 2019]”.
International Terminals Company [ITC] said the blaze in Deer Park was extinguished as of 3 a.m. Wednesday [3/20/2018]. The fire began Sunday [3/17/2019] at the facility southeast of Houston, sending a huge, dark plume of smoke thousands of feet in the air, though officials said air quality remained safe.
Crews will continue to spray foam and water on the storage tanks that caught fire to cool them down and prevent the fire from reigniting, the company said, adding that steam and smoke will be visible, and the fire could still flare back up.
The tanks that caught fire contained components of gasoline and materials used in nail polish remover, glues and paint thinner.”
http://time.com/5554796/houston-petrochemicals-fire-contained/
Days later, “[a] fire at a petrochemical plant outside of Houston briefly reignited Friday [3/21/2019], sending up another plume of black smoke at a site where a blaze had erupted earlier this week. The fire was preceded by a chemical spill into the Houston Ship Channel.
As of Friday afternoon [3/21/2019], the fire at a tank farm operated by the Intercontinental Terminals Co. in the city of Deer Park, just east of Houston, appeared to be contained, according to local reports. The incident delayed cleanup efforts for the original blaze which was initially extinguished on Wednesday [3/19/2019] after local authorities had issued shelter-in-place alerts to area residents. In the aftermath of that fire, the Environmental Protection Agency detected elevated levels of benzene.
The cause of Friday's [03/21/2019] fire is still unknown. There are no reported injuries.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an environmental lawsuit against Intercontinental Terminals claiming violations of state clean air laws.
‘ITC has a history of environmental violations, and this latest incident is especially disturbing and frightening,’ Paxton said in a statement. ‘No company can be allowed to disrupt lives and put public health and safety at risk.’
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/22/706082075/petrochemical-fire-reignites-at-houston-area-fuel-storage-facility
“The all-important channel is described by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a manmade port for ocean-going vessels, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Houston and Harris County, Texas.
U.S. Coast Guard Captain Kevin Oditt said tests are being done to monitor the conditions of the channel. A tank ship successfully went through the area on Sunday. [03/24/2019]..
‘The goal was to assess the impact to the on-scene recovery operations as well as ensure that there was no visible oil on the hull. Both were successful,’ Oditt said.
A tank ship and tank barge were to be sent through the area on Monday, [03/25/2019], he said. The Coast Guard has opened the San Jacinto River, he said.’ “
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/25/us/deer-park-residents-environment/index.html
“Students returned to school Monday [03/25/2019] in an area southeast of Houston after a fire at a petrochemical storage facility prompted several days of canceled classes.
Students were back in class Monday [03/25/2019] in Deer Park, Galena Park and other communities near the International Terminals Company in Deer Park.
Classes were canceled because of concerns over air quality near the facility, which caught fire on March 17 [,2019] and burned for several days.
The fire destroyed or damaged storage tanks that contained components of gasoline and materials used in nail polish remover, glues and paint thinner.
Elevated levels of benzene were detected in the air Thursday, prompting officials to order people to remain indoors.
The fire also led to the closure of part of the Houston Ship Channel. The U.S. Coast Guard says it hopes to have the channel reopened Monday [, 03/25/2019].”
https://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Texas-students-return-to-school-following-petrochemical-fire-507619011.html
“Benzene has a pungent odor, and inhaling it can irritate the skin, eyes and the respiratory system, while severe exposure can harm the nervous system or lead to unconsciousness, according to experts. The EPA classifies benzene as a carcinogen.
The state’s environmental regulator said monitors detected up to 190.68 parts per billion of benzene in Deer Park early Thursday [03/20/2019], a level that can cause headaches and nausea. Deer Park sits on the Houston Ship Channel, an area with nine oil refineries and dozens of energy related facilities.
Total Petrochemicals and Refining USA, a unit of France’s Total SA, emptied several of its petrochemical tanks as a precaution, it reported to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The flaring released thousands of pounds of propene, a volatile organic compound, it said.
Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday [03/20/2019] had ordered employees to avoid an area at its facility where it had detected elevated levels of benzene.
‘Given our very conservative air quality standards we are at a level where out of an abundance of caution there should be a shelter in place,’ Lina Hidalgo, the chief executive of Harris County which encompasses Houston and its suburbs, said during a morning news conference. …
Harris County Fire Marshal Laurie Christensen said firefighters have continued to apply a foam blanket on the burn area to stop the escape of dangerous fumes.
TCEQ, one of the groups investigating the incident, estimated that on the first day of the fire, 6.2 million pounds of carbon monoxide and thousands of pounds of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and toluene were released. The regulator has cited ITC for violations of state air-emissions rules 39 times over the past 16 years.
The EPA is to test local waterways for possible contamination from the millions of gallons of water and foam dropped on the fire since Sunday. “
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-energy-houston-fire/houston-suburbs-lift-travel-restrictions-imposed-after-petrochemical-fire-idUSKCN1R21BH
“Pyrolysis gasoline, also known as ‘pygas’ is a benzene-rich liquid byproduct that can be blended with other chemicals for use as a gasoline additive. That chemical was the source of a benzene spike Thursday [03/20/2019] morning, after it leaked out from foam covering one of the tanks. City leaders issued a shelter in place that lasted several hours.
ITC officials estimated Thursday [03/20/2019] that 14,000 barrels of pygas remained in that tank. However, ITC officials said Friday [03/21/2019] that about 20,000 barrels remained.
Crews attempted to pump pygas from the tank on Thursday [03/20/2019], but the effort didn’t work, Weber said, in part because of a less-than-ideal environment concerning the positioning of the pump, Weber said.
Aside from the roughly 20,000 barrels of product in the one tank, about 40,000 more barrels are expected to be removed, Weber said. Not all tanks are compromised, but they contain pygas and naptha, which have some percentage of benzene.”
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/New-fire-erupts-at-Deer-Park-plant-as-leaking-13710439.php
“The San Jacinto River, a waterway leading into the ship channel and located north of ITC's facility, was reopened to barge and tow traffic but only for about three hours on Monday [03/25/2019].
The ship channel is one of the busiest commercial waterways in the country, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Houston.
Water samples from the Houston Ship Channel have been tested, but those results are still not complete, said Jeff Kunze, with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Over the weekend, benzene levels in the air were very high near the site of the fire, but they have dropped significantly, according to monitoring by the Environmental Defense Fund. The group also took water samples in Galveston Bay and is awaiting results.
Adam Adams, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said air monitoring from his agency as well as several others in the last 24 hours has not found any hazardous conditions that would require warning the public.”
https://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Texas-students-return-to-school-following-13714127.php
A Homework assignment may be to Students to define 10 terms in one article because of the multiple organic terms cited. One bonus question may for a student defining a term not cited by anybody else in the class or all classes.
These 2 articles present summaries that may be useful for a class assignment:
https://www.kbtx.com/content/news/fire-reignites-again-at-Deer-Park-facility--507533041.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/national-guard-called-houston-after-chemical-fire-residents-told-stay-n985776
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom. Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.
Have a great weekend!
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