File:Douma in bed with chlorine.jpg


 * Source
 * RT via twitter

What happened to the dust?
The rebel video shows the cylinder covered by something that looks like dust, maybe dust from furtherthere blast after the cylinder fell or was placed on the bed. but there is no dust on the later RT video. Could this white layer be frost resulting from liquid chlorine boiling in the cylinder and slowly seeping out of the valve as gas? (I similar explanation was provided by Bellincat for the bright white color of the cylinder on the roof when seen through the hole in the nighttime video.) -- Petri Krohn (talk) 06:01, 23 April 2018 (UTC)


 * We had a related discussion. It cannot seep out slowly, it has to be at pressure of at least 3-5 atmospheres to stay liquid, and, another thing, it also has to jet out fast for any chance of freezing (Charles linked industrial pages with rates). It needs to be filmed soon after violently jetting out, like in a few minutes after; but that would mess up all around and it is not seen. So, 'highly likely', dust. It also appears lower now- it looks like some puffy stuff under its far end in the earlier video
 * More views, videos here. It is dust on top. Freeze will be all around, not just top, and there will be now dust wipeout area, closer to us. And the whole scene looks grossly staged, too many things are unnatural. --Resup (talk) 06:34, 23 April 2018 (UTC)


 * Good, getting to argue a point gets me started. No, frost would form on the whole surface. Better views clarify this has settled only on the upper surface, with a natural roll-off on the sides (not rotated since the dust settled). But the dust is gone now. Apparently someone wiped it off in the meantime to show off the bright yellow menace we know so well, or for whatever reason we can't know. --Caustic Logic (talk) 06:53, 23 April 2018 (UTC)
 * As for how the dust got there, I don't think from the attack where it bounced off the floor, tumbled 270 degrees onto the bed, and then had the dust of all that settle on it. Possible I guess, but barely. I think it was sifted into the air above the thing for natural effect, after it was set on a family bed with chlorine-colored dye spray, for emotional effect. chlorine doesn't stain things its own apparent color. It bleaches/oxidizes them, depending. This is something else, and still no proven puncture in the tank anyway. --Caustic Logic (talk) 06:53, 23 April 2018 (UTC)
 * And Bellingcat theory: Andrew advises in comments that was January, a night people froze to death. Only thing with visible frost though is the canister (of what?) on that (undetonated/full?) munition there. I think a full beer can would have frost on it too. --Caustic Logic (talk) 06:55, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

The chlorine in the cylinder is in liquid form. If the cylinder is placed horizontally and the valve opened, half of the content will quickly discharge as liquid. The chlorine that is below the level of the valve will slowly evaporate and exit the cylinder as gas. The pressure of the chlorine gas in the upper half of the cylinder will be near atmospheric pressure. The system reaches equilibrium when the temperature of the liquid drops down to the boiling point of chlorine in normal atmosphere (−34.04 °C). The cylinder cools down and collects frost on the outside. For the liquid to evaporate it needs external heat. A German language source quoted by Michael Kobs said this evaporation happens at about 1% an hour. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 08:29, 25 April 2018 (UTC)

More frost on chlorine cylinders
It has been long established that frost on the outside is a sign of a leaking chlorine cylinder. I just noticed that this old post by Philip Watson shows the same frost on rebel chlorine rockets. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 09:18, 16 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Syrian Rebels and “Chlorine IRAMs” - hiddensyria, October 18, 2019 (archive)

How lethal is chlorine?
It the white "dust" is frost, then there must still be chlorine seeping out of the bottle when the film crew visits the house. Would it be possible to film the chlorine cylinder protected by nothing but a gas mask? The same question applies to the nighttime video of the roof cylinder. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 06:07, 23 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Chlorine leak would bleach away that yellow-green dye... --Caustic Logic (talk) 06:56, 23 April 2018 (UTC)
 * I think the yellow-green stains are the result of liquid chlorine pouring on the bed. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 08:30, 25 April 2018 (UTC)

Hell Cannon harness
The "corset" or harness around the cylinder is evidently used for firing the cylinder from a Hall Cannon. There is space between the cylinder and the harness for the gun barrel. If the complex was intended to be dropped from a helicopter then there would be a much tighter fit and a much simpler construction for the fin assembly. There would be no need to wrap it around the nose of the cylinder. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 06:18, 23 April 2018 (UTC)