Glovebox glove selection for a unique experiment is discussed, including gloves that deteriorated so that they required replacement over the course of experimentation.
In order to assess the severity of beryllium dust explosions, an experiment called the Experimental Chamber for Evaluation of Exploding Dust (ExCEED) was commissioned in late 2012 in the Safety and Tritium Applied Research (STAR) lab at the Idaho National Laboratory. The dust explosion experiments are performed in a 20-liter spherical combustion chamber designed and manufactured for that purpose by Kühner AG in Switzerland. This experiment is housed in a glovebox at the STAR facility in order to completely confine beryllium dust, which is a health hazard.1 As an additional safety measure against accidental ignition of dust, the glovebox is operated with an inert (nitrogen) atmosphere and uses a nitrogen purge to keep oxygen and moisture concentrations low. The nitrogen atmosphere is held to