xxxhibition
Harmless
Posts: 12
Registered: 25-1-2021
Member Is Offline
|
|
Lost 5 L HNO3 stored in HDPE Kanister
It was 65% Analythical grade HNO3
Is here someone with same expierience?
The kanister was stored some years in dark cold place unmoved.
Now i find it empty it stood on a woodn plank and i wonder i did not recognice anny fumes or smell from the tiny leak.
The woodn plank is now soft and catches easy fire is this now nitrated wood!?
[Edited on 30-5-2021 by xxxhibition]
|
|
|
Jenks
Hazard to Others
Posts: 130
Registered: 1-12-2019
Member Is Offline
|
|
Put water in it and see if it leaks. I inherited a bottle of 99% isopropanol from six years ago and just noticed a leaking crack on the side, so I
moved the contents to a new container. Polyethylene seems to get more brittle with age, and maybe the acid helped.
|
|
|
Aloesci
Harmless
Posts: 28
Registered: 7-4-2018
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Well, that sucks.
Nitration usually uses sulfuric acid in conjunction with the nitric acid to generate the nitronium ion by way of an equilibrium.
I wonder if given enough time, nitric acid can do this by itself spontaneously.
I wonder if it did made nitrocellulose (or nitrated wood)..
Try to wash the wood in plenty of water, and then see what happens if you dissolve some in an organic solvent like acetone, ethyl acetate or diethyl
ether. Normal cellulose shouldn't dissolve, but nitrocellulose should dissolve to some degree.
You might also be able to see if you can reduce the nitro groups using something like Iron(II) (hydroxide?) in solution which would show a positive
result of a red-brown Iron(III) precipitate.
|
|
|
Jenks
Hazard to Others
Posts: 130
Registered: 1-12-2019
Member Is Offline
|
|
Quote: Originally posted by Aloesci  | Well, that sucks.
Nitration usually uses sulfuric acid in conjunction with the nitric acid to generate the nitronium ion by way of an equilibrium.
I wonder if given enough time, nitric acid can do this by itself. |
The rediscovery of nitrocellulose was from wiping up spilled nitric acid with the wife's apron and hanging it on an oven to dry - without washing it
first. Don't you hate to see sloppy work lead to business success?
[Edited on 30-5-2021 by Jenks]
|
|
|
Fyndium
International Hazard
Posts: 1192
Registered: 12-7-2020
Location: Not in USA
Member Is Offline
|
|
Calcium carbonate is used as a filler for HDPE. Yes, plastic industry does cut their dope too for increased profits.
Now, I'm NOT SURE ABOUT THIS, but I have seen some indicators that white, fully opaque plastics can be fillered, while translucent are 100% HDPE. All
commercial corrosive liquids are supplied in latter type bottles, and former are used for all kinds of non-aggressive stuff, including foodstuffs.
Just to note that this may explain why some HDPE bottles may end up empty upon protracted standing.
|
|
|
Twospoons
International Hazard
Posts: 1282
Registered: 26-7-2004
Location: Middle Earth
Member Is Offline
Mood: A trace of hope...
|
|
I had the same experience many years ago. 10 litre HDPE container with a pinhole leak in a seam. Luckily my wife noticed the "chemical haze" in the
garage where my nitric was stored, so I was able to rescue most of it. But not before it chewed a large hole in some particle board flooring.
[Edited on 6-6-2021 by Twospoons]
Helicopter: "helico" -> spiral, "pter" -> with wings
|
|
|
Fantasma4500
International Hazard
Posts: 1677
Registered: 12-12-2012
Location: Dysrope (aka europe)
Member Is Offline
Mood: dangerously practical
|
|
i have lost 15 liters of nitric myself, but its quite doable to make if you got some DCM, some battery acid (just simmer it down to 70%) and nitrates
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xpblue/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
