Gallery, Projects and General > How do I??

Disposing of Hydrofluoric Acid

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awemawson:
Thanks for all the responses and to JohnS for that interesting link.

Eug: the instructons specifically say the process involves no chromates  :thumbup:

A BIG development is that I've tracked down the original company who ARE still in business  :ddb: I had a fraction of their address including Haltwhistle on the original packing. Now we all know that Haltwhistle is a delightful small town in Northumberland with some good pubs and at least one good restaurant, so it was in that area I was searching. Turns out that they are in ' Haltwhistle Road, South Woodham Ferrars in Essex  :bang:

.... I'll give them a call in the morning  :wave:

vtsteam:
Andrew, maybe you could sell it back to them.......

Hmmm, this sounds like a dynamite business plan! Sort of a double-pay fear based rental return  :lol:

awemawson:
Well it's now gone  :thumbup:

Tracking the original firm down proved to be a red herring - company not trading and address proved to be a private house - odd as there is a strong 'web presence'  but it looks as though it was never a 'Ltd' company and the house has changed hands !

So I took advice from both here and elsewhere and, donning major contamination clothing neutralised it, diluted the result to many thousands to one, and flushed it away.

At the end of the day the bottle was only 50 cc and probably very little of that was actually hydrofluoric acid, but better to be safe than sorry.

Manxmodder:
A while ago a mate and myself were clearing a workshop from a deceased estate. We were sorting useable materials and equipment from stuff that needed dumping when we spotted a plastic lab container with a yellow substance in.

A closer look revealed a faded label with Picric acid on it  :bugeye:

Picric acid is classed as a high explosive and it's another very dangerous compound to anyone unfamiliar with it's potential instability if it dries out or comes into contact with metals.

The explosives team were engaged to dispose of it safely.

I often wonder what potential outcome might have happened if someone else with no knowledge of Picric acid had won the bid for the workshop clearance.

 A Wikipedia page on Picric acid:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picric_acid

....OZ.

hermetic:
"I often wonder what potential outcome might have happened if someone else with no knowledge of Picric acid had won the bid for the workshop clearance."

Quite simple to answer your wonderings!

Boom!

Picric acid, and also organic peroxide (hardener for GRP resin) have a common feature, if they are stored with the lid slightly loose for long periods gasses evaporate from them, and crystallize round the gap in the bottle cap. unscrew the cap, shear the crystals and..........................BOOM! Also watch out for two pack car paint, some of which have the same problems, I had a near deaf experience with a plastic 5ltr can of discarded 2 pack.......................I still have tinnitus!

Phil

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