Today’s Illustration: It Has Always Lived Up To Its Reputation!

. . . . .
What: Chlorine Trifluoride – CTF
“[CTF] It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem. . . . All this sounds fairly academic and innocuous, but when it is translated into the problem of handling the stuff, the results are horrendous. It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem. It is hypergolic [spontaneously ignites] with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water—with which it reacts explosively.
It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals—steel, copper, aluminum, etc.—because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride that protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminum keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.”
Where: Shreveport, Louisiana
How: A Chlorine Trifluoride – CTF Spill
“[A spill] It happened at their Shreveport, Louisiana, installation, while they were preparing to ship out, for the first time, a one-ton steel cylinder of CTF. The cylinder had been cooled with dry ice to make it easier to load the material into it, and the cold had apparently embrittled the steel. For as they were maneuvering the cylinder onto a dolly, it split and dumped one ton of chlorine trifluoride onto the floor. It chewed its way through twelve inches of concrete and dug a threefoot hole in the gravel underneath, filled the place with fumes which corroded everything in sight. . . . and, in general, made one hell of a mess. Civil Defense turned out, and started to evacuate the neighborhood, and to put it mildly, there was quite a brouhaha before things quieted down. Miraculously, nobody was killed, but there was one casualty — the man who had been steadying the cylinder when it split. He was found some five hundred feet away, where he had reached Mach 2 and was still picking up speed when he was stopped by a heart attack.
This episode was still in the future when the rocket people [originally]started working with CTF, but they nevertheless knew enough to be scared to death, and proceeded with a degree of caution appropriate to dental work on a king cobra. And they never had any reason to regret that caution. The stuff consistently lived up to its reputation.”
Other Information & Facts: 
* Otto Ruff had discovered the stuff in 1930.
* The Germans experimented with CTF during WWII, but found it too dangerous to use.
* “Even compounds which have already been burnt can be reignited, like a pile of ash.”
* “Once ignited, it is nearly impossible to extinguish.”
* “The only things safe are those things that are coated with Teflon.”
* “In the unlikely event of a large liquid spill [of CTF], evacuate the area and immediately contact the Air Products Emergency Response System.
Do not attempt any remediation! Warning: Any attempt to neutralize a liquid spill may result in an explosion.”
— Air Products
* “It is also quite probably the most vigorous fluorinating agent in existence—much more vigorous than fluorine itself.”
* “CTF is described as being “extremely reactive.” This is a hilarious understatement. It is not flammable in itself, but it sets anything else on fire. Especially if there is water involved (plus, the reaction produces hydrofluoric acid). Concrete, the ash from previous fires, sand, careless researchers, glass … the list is exhaustive. When introduced to water ice, it explodes. So, when this stuff spilled, it set fire to the concrete floor, and proceeded to burn through a full twelve inches of concrete, then another three feet of gravel under that.”

As one witness put it, “Everything was on fire” to “The concrete was on fire.”

. . . . 

Key Biblical Thoughts:

  • demons
  • created finite
  • angels
  • temptation
  • “a roaring lion”
  • danger
  • sin
  • Satan
  • salvation
  • beware
  • Peter – sift you like wheat
  • Pharaoh’s magicians
  • Moses in Pharaoh’s court
  • signs and wonders

. . . . . 

Sermonic Example:

[include whatever people and events you find useful]

It was in Shreveport, Louisiana, at the General Chemical Company.  They were preparing to ship out a 2,000 lb cylinder of the chemical typically labeled CTF — Chlorine Trifluoride.

CTF is one of the most volatile and dangerous substances in the world!

Apparently, as they were working on placing the cylinder onto a dolly, a cylinder filled with about one ton of CTF, that cylinder split open, and the CTF — now listen to their words  —

. . . . chewed its way through twelve inches of concrete and dug a threefoot hole in the gravel underneath, filled the place with fumes which corroded everything in sight. . . .. . .  Civil Defense turned out, and started to evacuate the neighborhood . . . Miraculously, nobody was killed, but there was one casualty — the man who had been steadying the cylinder when it split. He was found some five hundred feet away, where he had reached Mach 2 and was still picking up speed when he was stopped by a heart attack.

Since its discovery in 1930 — the article goes on to say, “everyone knew enough to be scared to death, and proceeded with a degree of caution appropriate to dental work on a king cobra. And they never had any reason to regret that caution. The stuff consistently lived up to its reputation.”

Since 1930, “everyone knew enough to be scared to death” of it.  It would ignite and eat through sand, glass, asbestos, concrete, gravel, along with most anything else in its path.

In fact, “Air Products” posts this warning — “In the unlikely event of a large liquid spill [of CTF], evacuate the area and immediately contact the Air Products Emergency Response System. Do not attempt any remediation! Warning: Any attempt to neutralize a liquid spill may result in an explosion.”

It has always “lived up to its reputation.”

AND . . . . So has Satan and his host of angelic rebels lived up to their reputation!

It took the powers and presence of Michael the arch-angel of heaven before one of the angelic messengers could reach Daniel — Daniel 10:13

Jude 1:9 states — “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.”

He has always lived up to his reputation when it comes to the danger he poses to God’s people!

Other Information & Links:
— https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_wont_work_with_dioxygen_difluoride

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