Teledyne D series Installation And Operation Manual page 11

D Series Syringe Pumps
Warnings, Cautions, and Notices
WARNING:
PLEASE READ
At the request of our Supercritical Fluid Extraction laboratory staff, we want our customers
to be aware of the potential hazards involved with supercritical fluid extraction. Oxidizing
gases, such as nitrous oxide, in contact with organic matrices or flammable modifiers, can
detonate under certain conditions. Likewise, flammable fluids, such as methane, under high
pressure conditions can present a hazard.
With concern for the safety of our customers, we have designed our extractors to be as safe as
possible. However, we do not recommend the use of our instrument with potentially explosive
reactions.
The letter below, which appeared in the July 22, 1991 edition of Chemical and Engineering
News, is reprinted with permission from Professor Robert E. Sievers and his colleagues at
the University of Colorado at Boulder. Even though they were not performing supercritical
fluid extraction, it details the problems their lab experienced using nitrous oxide under simi-
lar conditions. We add our support for their suggestion to use only carbon dioxide or other
less hazardous fluids for supercritical fluid extraction.
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