1. Introduction
Cyanamide (Fig. 1) was first obtained by Bineau [1] from
cyanogen chloride and ammonia in 1838. The first real source
for cyanamide was found by Caro and Frank [2] by developing a
process for calcium cyanamide starting from calcium carbide in
1895. However, the problem of low stability of aqueous cyanamide
solutions (Cyanamide L 500) was first solved by Süddeutsche
Kalkstickstoffwerke AG, Germany (current name: AlzChem Trostberg
GmbH), 1965 in technical scale [3,4]. Some years later a
technical process for stabilized solid cyanamide (Cyanamide F
1000), was established and its stability increased continuously.
Cyanamide is shipped and used worldwide in large quantities
and therefore the riskless transport is important for quality
and safety reasons. According to the UN Recommendations on the
Transport of Dangerous Goods [5] no person may offer or accept
dangerous goods for transport, unless those goods are properly
classified, packaged,marked, labeled, placarded, described and certified
on a transport document, except if otherwise provided in these regulations. Consequently, it had to be decided whether the
previous assignment of cyanamide as merchandise to Class 8 is still
possible or is a classification as a self-reactive substance of Division
4.1 more appropriate and under which conditions the transport is
safe particularly in tanks. The UN Manual of Tests and Criteria [6]
contains a number of testmethods to determine the hazard potential
(e.g. explosive properties, thermal stability and vent sizing test)
of a substance or formulation. On the basis of the obtained test
results a final decision wasmade. The object of this paper is to give
information about the properties of cyanamide and the correct classification
according to the UN Recommendations on the Transport
of Dangerous Goods.