Chemical Reactivity Worksheet Development History
Below is a list of the major changes to the Chemical Reactivity Worksheet (CRW), starting with the most recent.
Version 4.0.3 (June, 2019)
CRW version 4.0.3 includes the following updates:
- An update of compatibility with the most recent operating systems for windows/mac computer
- New "cloning" function that allows a user to duplicate a mixture of chemicals, rename the mixture, and then edit that mixture. This function is particularly helpful for mixtures having a large number of chemicals
- The ability to transfer user chemical and mixture data from the older version of the software to version 4.0.3
Version 4.0 (March 3rd, 2016)
Starting with the development of version 4.0, the Chemical Reactivity Worksheet project is being managed by The Center For Chemical Process Safety.
Version 4.0 is a major new release. The development team:
- Added four new reactive groups in order to better differentiate the hazards of chemicals with different structures.
- Added a new Materials of Construction Module, which includes information about some materials and elastomers that are commonly used in industrial containers and valving systems, as well as information about known incompatibilities between these materials and many chemicals used in the chemical industry.
- Developed an improved Export To Excel Feature. The CRW 4 comes bundled with an Excel macro that can generate a CRW-like compatibility chart in an Excel spreadsheet file, including color-coding and reactivity documentation.
- Improved the user’s ability to quickly add air and nitrogen to a mixture. Air and nitrogen can now be added to a mixture through a drop-down menu on the Mixture Manager interface, without having to perform a search.
- Created a new data migration tool which can be used to facilitate the import of CRW 3 data into the CRW 4.
- Created three new training videos that are included in the program and on this website. The videos cover options for sharing CRW data within an organization, the process for migrating CRW 3 data into CRW 4, and the Export to Excel process.
Version 3.0.1 Mac and iPad Versions (April 2, 2013)
- Released versions of CRW 3.0.1 for Mac computers and iOS devices (iPad).
Version 3.0.1 (March 22, 2013)
- Fixed several minor bugs in version 3.0.
Version 3.0 (March 21, 2013)
- Provided a new FileMaker Runtime user interface, making the CRW compatible with the latest computer operating systems.
The new interface is easier to use and includes many new features. The development team:
- Combined the Chemical Search and Reactivity Worksheet functions of Version 2.0 into a single Mixture Manager screen, greatly improving the logical flow of the program and streamlining the process of building a mixture.
- Added 17 new reactive groups in order to better differentiate the hazards of chemicals with different structures. Definitions for the new groups were prepared and edited by a collaborative team of chemists at NOAA and the Dow Chemical Company.
- Added a new reference section, listing potential incompatibilities between substances in the CRW database and five common classes of absorbents.
- Improved the interface for the Compatibility Chart. The chart is now color-coded to make it easier and faster to assess overall reactivity predictions, and it is more flexible and editable. Updated NFPA hazard ratings are also displayed on the chart, when available.
- Reviewed and updated the literature documentation for the reactions shown in a compatibility chart. This review was done by a collaborative team of chemists at NOAA and the Dow Chemical Company.
- Added the ability for users to add comments to a compatibility chart in a User Comments field, in order to augment existing documentation for any mixture.
- Added a new chemical pair analysis tool to the Compatibility Chart screen so users can quickly find the reactivity results for a specific pair of chemicals in their mixture. This feature is especially useful when a compatibility chart contains many chemicals.
- Added example structural formula diagrams to the descriptions of all the reactive groups included in the CRW. Users can also add new diagrams to the list.
- Added the ability for users to choose which synonym (alternate name) will be used for a chemical when the chemical is added to a mixture or displayed in a compatibility chart.
The paper, Enhanced NOAA chemical reactivity worksheet for determining chemical compatibility, describes in more detail the updates to the CRW and the new features in version 3.0.
Version 2.0.2 (March 20, 2009)
- Fixed a major bug in the "Custom Chemical" feature of version 2.0.1. The earlier version didn't allow the user to add new chemicals.
Version 2.0.1 (March 2, 2009)
- Released as a result of changes to the CRW's internal chemical database. Previously, there were 188 records in the chemical database that contained significant amounts of water, as aqueous solutions or mixtures such as explosives wetted with water to desensitize these materials. When assessing the chemical reactivity, we neglected to include the water portion of the mixture. These records are now consistent with the rest of the compatibility requirements for other materials in the database.
Version 2.0 (February 19, 2009)
- Provided a new FileMaker Runtime user interface, making the CRW compatible with the latest computer operating systems. This Filemaker Pro version replaced the earlier version, developed in the Oracle Media Objects Environment.
- Added option to build a "Custom Chemical Database" containing all the materials that are present at your particular facility. This allows you to create records containing pertinent reactive hazard information for those chemicals. In addition, you can update the CRW's standard chemical database without affecting your custom chemical data.
- Added potential gaseous products to the reactivity predictions (as applicable), along with literature citations for those gases.
- Included literature citations for many of the other predicted hazards. The documentation is presented as a brief summary, with the citation for those who want to read the full description of the reported reaction.
- Added water to the collection of available substances; water can be added to any chemical mixture by clicking a button on the Reactivity Worksheet window.
For more information describing the chemical reactivity updates in version 2.0, review this technical paper: CRW 2.0: A Representative-Compound Approach to Functionality-Based Prediction of Reactive Chemical Hazards.
Version 1.9.2 (January 7, 2008)
- Made minor edits to the chemical database and made changes to the compatibility table.
Version 1.9.1 (October 2007)
- Made edits to the data and changed the chemical compatibility table.
Version 1.9 (April 6, 2007)
- Provided updates to the chemical data and Compatibility Chart update.
Version 1.8 (November 2006)
- Added new hazard text. Made edits to the data and changed the chemical compatibility table.
Version 1.7 (February 2006)
- Provided 50-100 edits to general descriptions and case history information.
- Made some edits to the assignment of the reactive groups, and changed the wording for several hazard statements in the Compatibility Chart.
Version 1.6 (November 2004)
- Provided about 200 new chemicals with new case history information.
- Added data from experiments conducted at Argonne National Laboratory on the rates of reaction of about 50 water-reactive substances.
- Discontinued the download option that allowed users to copy a version onto diskettes.
Version 1.5 (July 2002)
- Provided new case history information in the "Chemical Profile" field.
- Added special hazards to the Compatibility Chart.
- Added a new hazard statement (B6) and some glossary terms.
- Corrected formatting in the "General Description" field, edited synonyms, and edited Chemical Abstract Service numbers.
- Discontinued the CRW version for Windows 3.1.
Version 1.4 (March 2001)
- Added 2,500 new chemicals to the chemical database.
- Added chemical profiles and information about water reactivity for those new chemicals, along with new case study information about many of the chemicals in the CRW and information about the products that could be generated during some kinds of reactions.
- Fixed a bug in version 1.3 that caused incorrect hazard statements to appear in the Compatibility Chart.
- Sorted the database by name.
Version 1.3 (January 2001)
- Added a feature to show hazard statements in the Compatibility Chart.
- Made some changes to the chemical info cards.
Version 1.2
- Made edits to the data and changed the chemical compatibility table.
Version 1.1
- Made minor interface changes just after the release of version 1.0.
Version 1.0
- The original CRW was developed in the Oracle Media Objects Environment. This version ran within the OMO Player, which dictated that the program be 16-bit.
More Information about the Chemical Reactivity Worksheet
In 1980, the Hazardous Materials Management Section of the California Department of Health Services prepared a manual for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), titled "A Method for Determining Hazardous Waste Compatibility" (EPA 600/2-80-076; this manual is now out of print). In it was a compatibility matrix showing what could happen if members of 41 "Chemical Reactivity Groups" were mixed. The authors had assigned about 1,650 substances to reactivity groups. To use the chart, you identified the groups that included your substances of concern, and then, for a pair of those substances at a time, searched the chart to see what reaction could be expected if those two substances were mixed.
To develop the CRW, NOAA refined this basic procedure by:
- Computerizing the chart.
- Modifying and adding to the original reactivity groups to create a new set of reactive groups, and adding many more chemicals.
- Adding information about the air and water reactivity of individual substances.
- Adding "case history" information for many of the individual substances (shown in the chemical data sheets in the CRW).
- Soliciting peer review of the new reactive groups.