Friday, December 5, 2008

Scared:My sample caught on fire!

I every Fri no class1 cos Fri is d research project day for us..We can use d whole day of Fri to do our final yr project..so,of course i oso do my project 2day...
I dunno wat shuld i said abt d incident happened 2day...it's lucky o....?y did i say so leh?cos when i do my sample preparation half way,my sample caught on fire~!i really got shocked ady although i knw tat my project is quite dangerous n it may cause explosion,BUT i still cant expect it's really happening lol!my final yr project title is photocatalytical removal of metal ions,whr i nid to coat my stainless plates with TiO2,titanium dioxide with methanol..i started to do my coating process since 930am n it caught on fire at 330pm...
B4 tat,my supervisor,Ms Vijenthi alwz remind me n asked me to b careful as im doing her master project,of course not exactly d same but it's quite similar la...she had a bad experience tat her samples was caught on fire n it even burnt her lab coat as she used 220V of voltage...so,i was thinking im juz only use 35V of voltage which means abt 6 times smaller of voltages than hers...i oso dont believe tat my samples can catch on fire cos it's only 35 V mah..who knws my sample really caught fire n im too shocked to do anything...Luckily,i quickly throw away my samples as i was holding it when i saw d flame n fire is inside d methanol + TIO2 solution!
Fortunately,im not alone in d Chemistry Lab 2day!When i saw d fire,im so scare n i juz knw how to shout Wee Shen,my classmate to help me to put off d fire..Wee Shen asked me to go out n ask for help,BUT there's nobody there!not even lecturers n my scientific officer was not there as well..Finally,i saw an Engineering lecturer n i asked him to help me...So,d Engineering lecturer came in n asked me d contents of my solution..i told him tat it was d solution of alcohol n i dun think we can use water to put off d fire as i scared it may explode!He is an Engineering lecturer n he knws nothing abt Chemistry,so he oso couldnt help much..he asked me to find my Scientific Officer as soon as possible..i couldnt call my Scientific Officer as she left her phones in d lab!Luckily she came back to d lab n she used water to put off d fire!How brave was she,man....i juz cant imagine she's so brave enough to do so as i was so scared until i oso dunno wat to do,my brains r not functioning ady!According to her,this is not her 1st time seeing this n she get used ady...She oso said tat luckily she came back early cos if we juz leave d fire like tat,it'll juz explode like tat within half an hour!Imagine tat,if tat really happens,i dunno wat's going to happen with Wee Shen as i was running up n down to find ppl for help!OMG,Thx to God,luckily Wee Shen was with me,if not,im sure i dead in d lab ady...
Frankly to say,i oso dunno y my sample can catch on fire..i had been doing this so many times ady n this is d 1st time it caught on fire...According to d Scientific Officer,it's because i had been switching on d Voltage too long time ady,as i said i had been doing my project non-stop since 930am n it caught on fire at 330pm..BUT,i still think tat it might b 1 of d reasons,but d main reasons is mb due to my "itchy mouth"..cos while doing my samples coating,Wee Shen keep reminding me to b careful n more alert as Ms Vijenthi told them abt how dangerous my project is..Yet im keep saying tat it wont catch on fire as d voltage is very small...who knws,it ends up like tat...haiz~!
Nw,i learnt fr my mistakes ady!nvr get panic when something bad happened...i hv to alwz remember this as Wee Shen will not doing his project in d Chemistry Lab ady,he'll b doing his in Biotech Lab...tat means if nxt time my samples catch on fire again,TouchWood!!! i hope there wont b nxt time anymore..i really very scared n panic tat time..
Im sure my Scientific Offficer wont allow me to do my project until late at night ady cos she said she's so worry n scared of me if she allowed me to do so as i had a "bad impression" for her ady(samples getting fire!)......

1 comment:

ZhiLi said...

so happening la ur final year project~
mine wil be dead boring~~~ choy choy choy~ later when im really doing it , all my documents burn pulak~hahaha