“The [NYFD] people who called us had been killed,” Atlas considered as she surveyed the tons and acres of wreckage. “Nobody’s going to be alive.” Fires burned and molten steel flowed in the pile of ruins still settling beneath her feet. She wore a respirator to filter out the smoke, dust, and fumes, but Anna worked without a mask to sniff out places where the broken dead lay. Anna is a live-find dog, but she developed a “truly intent stare” that Atlas came to recognize as her response to catching the scent of a corpse. Mostly they found parts.

Fonte: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/sasalum/newsltr/summer2002/k911.html

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"Fires are still actively burning and the smoke is very intense," reports Alison Geyh, PhD. "In some pockets now being uncovered, they are finding molten steel."

Fonte: http://www.jhsph.edu/Publications/Special/Welch.htm

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Ron Burger - Public Health Advisor at the National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

The National Environmental Health Association’s paper “Messages in the Dust” quotes Burger: “Feeling the heat, seeing the molten steel, the layers upon layers of ash, like lava, it reminded me of Mt. St. Helens and the thousands who fled that disaster.”

Guy Lounsbury - Member of New York Air National Guard’s 109th Air Wing:

National Guard Magazine article written by Lounsbury (excerpt): “One fireman told us that there was still molten steel at the heart of the towers' remains. Firemen sprayed water to cool the debris down but the heat remained intense enough at the surface to melt their boots.”

Fonte: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3731/is_200112/ai_n9015802#continue

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http://www.luogocomune.net/site/htmpages/911/molten/seau3b.jpg
(As of 21 days after the attacks, the fires were still burning and molten steel was still running.)

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“In the first few weeks, sometimes when a worker would pull a steel beam from the wreckage, the end of the beam would be dripping molten steel,” Fuchek said.

Fonte: http://www.gcn.com/print/21_27a/19930-1.html?topic=news

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Zolfo, ossigeno e ferro.

Visto che il kerosene non contiene zolfo, che cosa può aver generato questo processo chimico, rilevato in un reperto del WTC7, che i professori di scienza dei materiali Biederman e Sisson hanno saputo attribuire soltanto a una ipotetica pioggia acida - decisamente copiosa - e che il New York Times ha definito "forse il più profondo mistero emerso da questa investigazione"?

Materials science professors Ronald R. Biederman and Richard D. Sisson Jr. confirmed the presence of eutectic formations by examining steel samples under optical and scanning electron microscopes. A preliminary report was published in JOM, the journal of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. A more detailed analysis comprises Appendix C of the FEMA report. The New York Times called these findings "perhaps the deepest mystery uncovered in the investigation." The significance of the work on a sample from Building 7 and a structural column from one of the twin towers becomes apparent only when one sees these heavy chunks of damaged metal.

A one-inch column has been reduced to half-inch thickness. Its edges--which are curled like a paper scroll--have been thinned to almost razor sharpness. Gaping holes--some larger than a silver dollar--let light shine through a formerly solid steel flange.

LINK: http://www.gcn.com/print/21_27a/19930-1.html?topic=news

°°Una colonna di due centimetri e mezzi di spessore è stata ridotta alla metà. I suoi bordi, arrotolati come carta da papiro, sono diventati taglienti quasi quanto un rasoio. Larghi fori - alcuni più larghi di un dollaro d'argento, fanno entrare luce in quello che prima era una compatta giuntura/lamina d'acciaio.°°

Jonathan Barnett
Ronald R. Biederman

R. D. Sisson, Jr.



CLimited Metallurgical Examination
C.1 Introduction
Two structural steel members with unusual erosion patterns were observed in the WTC debris field. The first appeared to be from WTC 7 and the second from either WTC 1 or WTC 2. Samples were taken from these beams and labeled Sample 1 and Sample 2, respectively. A metallurgic examination was conducted.

C.2 Sample 1 (From WTC 7)
Several regions in the section of the beam shown in Figures C-1 and C-2 were examined to determine microstructural changes that occurred in the A36 structural steel as a result of the events of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent fires. Although the exact location of this beam in the building was not known, the severe erosion found in several beams warranted further consideration. In this preliminary study, optical and scanning electron metallography techniques were used to examine the most severely eroded regions as exemplified in the metallurgical mount shown in Figure C-3. Evidence of a severe high temperature

http://www.luogocomune.net/site/htmpages/911/molten/WTC_apndxC_img_1.jpeg

readily visible in the near-surface microstructure. A liquid eutectic mixture containing primarily iron, oxygen, and sulfur formed during this hot corrosion attack on the steel. This sulfur-rich liquid penetrated preferentially down grain boundaries of the steel, severely weakening the beam and making it susceptible to erosion. The eutectic temperature for this mixture strongly suggests that the temperatures in this region of the steel beam approached 1,000 °C (1,800 °F), which is substantially lower than would be expected for melting this steel.

http://www.luogocomune.net/site/htmpages/911/molten/WTC_apndxC_img_2.jpeg

Figure C-3 Mounted and polished severely thinned section removed from the wide-flange beam shown in Figure C-1.

When steel cools below the eutectic temperature, the liquid of eutectic composition transforms to two phases, iron oxide, FeO, and iron sulfide, FeS. The product of this eutectic reaction is a characteristic geometrical arrangement that is unique and is readily visible even in the unetched microstructure of the steel. Figures C-4 and C-5 present typical near-surface regions showing the microstructural changes that occur due to this corrosion attack. Figure C-6 presents the microstructure from the center of a much thicker section of the steel that is unaffected by the hot corrosion. Figure C-7 illustrates the deep penetration of the liquid into the steel’s structure. In order to identify the chemical composition of the eutectic, a qualitative chemical evaluation was done using energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) of the eutectic reaction products. Figure C-8 illustrates the results of this analysis.

APPENDIX C : Limited Metallurgical Examination



Figure C-8 Qualitative chemical analysis.

■Summary for Sample 1
■The thinning of the steel occurred by a high-temperture corrosion due to a combination of oxidation and sulfidation.
■Heating of the steel into a hot corrosive environment approaching 1,000 °C (1,800 °F) results in the formation of a eutectic mixture of iron, oxygen, and sulfur that liquefied the steel.
■The sulfidation attack of steel grain boundaries accelerated the corrosion and erosion of the steel.

Riassunto del reperto 1:

L'assottigliamento dell'acciaio è avvenuto tramite una corrosione ad alta temperatura, a causa di una combinazine di ossidazione e solfurazione.

Il riscaldamento dell'acciaio in un ambiento corrosivo caldo che si avvicina ai 1000° C. produce una mistura eutettica di ferro, ossigeno e zolfo che ha liquefatto l'acciaio.

L'azione della solfurazione sui grani esterni dell'acciaio ha accelerato la corrosione e l'erosione dell'acciaio,

Quindi Barnett parla di ACCIAIO LIQUEFATTO

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zFs59-oLpA (minuto 3:47 in poi)