Emitting blue light when using high pressure water jet.

[Rascalnet]

I work making on a chemical plant making Emulsion Polymers and whilst recently inside, cleaning the walls of a "dirty" Reactor with high pressure water (>10000 PSI) I experienced a blue light where the jet was hitting the meatal walls of the Reacor. It was not totally continuous but freaked me out ! No one beleived me at first and management got worried because of the thought it was a sort of ignition. I managed to repeat it for all to see. It looked kind of flourescent......any ideas ?

[topogigo]

Where did you get these mushrooms from? And who told you you could eat them?

[fo3nix]

Sounds like triboluminescence to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboluminescence

[theprof]

Many polymers exhibit luminescence following mechanical stress. A high-pressure water jet would be just the job.

At a guess, your plant probably uses poly(p-phenylevinylene) or a related compound during the manufacturing process. These compounds are well known to emit blue light under the right circumstances.

There�s no danger of ignition.