When I took qual. anal., in the early '60s, we used thioacetamide instead of H2S, since it was less hazardous. Now, it seems that it's quite hazardous also. And carcinogenic.
Burning mercury off in nitric?
- Thread starter yvonbug
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Hydrogen sulfide can be present naturally in well water. In such cases, ozone is often used for its removal. An alternative method uses a filter with manganese dioxide. Both methods oxidize sulfides to less toxic sulfates.
From Wikipedia
From Wikipedia
Eagle,
H2S is toxic whether or not it is acidic or alkaline and is harder to neutralize. CN is extremely more toxic as an acidic gas(HCN) but nowhere near as toxic alkaline. It is also much easier to nuetralize.
The nuetralizing compounds for each are supposed to be available on truck docks in case of a leak of either. The H2S pack is much larger than the CN pack. That and when it is kepy alkaline, CN is normally stable. H2S is, of course, a gas. This makes transportation a little more difficult than a double sealed bag in a cardboard box.
Back to Hg. The only things I do with it are retort and then take to the recycling center on haz-mat amnesty days. Store it in a Tightly sealed jar under a layer of weak NaOH. This will prevent the Hg from evaporating, especially if it's kept cool.
Chuck
H2S is toxic whether or not it is acidic or alkaline and is harder to neutralize. CN is extremely more toxic as an acidic gas(HCN) but nowhere near as toxic alkaline. It is also much easier to nuetralize.
The nuetralizing compounds for each are supposed to be available on truck docks in case of a leak of either. The H2S pack is much larger than the CN pack. That and when it is kepy alkaline, CN is normally stable. H2S is, of course, a gas. This makes transportation a little more difficult than a double sealed bag in a cardboard box.
Back to Hg. The only things I do with it are retort and then take to the recycling center on haz-mat amnesty days. Store it in a Tightly sealed jar under a layer of weak NaOH. This will prevent the Hg from evaporating, especially if it's kept cool.
Chuck
eagle2
Well-known member
Chuck, Very good info! I knew there was a proper compound to keep on top of Mercury.
H2S is even more dangerous than HCN, because of fatigue of your sense of smell. Merck index states: Extremely hazardous. Collapse, coma and death from respiratory failure may come within a few seconds after one or two inspirations. Insidious Poison.
GSP, My basic Chemistry book is: College Chemistry, with qual analysis. sixth ed. copyright 1980. I studied and did all the Qual work and it also used Thioacetimide. I still have some of that chemical, but nowadays I stay away from using it. Don`t need to separate Group II from Group III anymore, anyway! 8)
H2S is even more dangerous than HCN, because of fatigue of your sense of smell. Merck index states: Extremely hazardous. Collapse, coma and death from respiratory failure may come within a few seconds after one or two inspirations. Insidious Poison.
GSP, My basic Chemistry book is: College Chemistry, with qual analysis. sixth ed. copyright 1980. I studied and did all the Qual work and it also used Thioacetimide. I still have some of that chemical, but nowadays I stay away from using it. Don`t need to separate Group II from Group III anymore, anyway! 8)
eagle2;
"Collapse, coma and death from respiratory failure may come within a few seconds after one or two inspirations."
Did you perhaps mean to say 'inhallations' ?
This forum is extremely 'inspirational' but I'd hardly call it poisonous.
Shaul
"Collapse, coma and death from respiratory failure may come within a few seconds after one or two inspirations."
Did you perhaps mean to say 'inhallations' ?
This forum is extremely 'inspirational' but I'd hardly call it poisonous.
Shaul
Irons
Well-known member
Platdigger said:
Hydrogen Peroxide works well too. When digesting Sulfide ores, it's common to get H2S coming off but the addition of some Hydrogen peroxide oxidizes the H2S.
eagle2
Well-known member
Shaul, that`s a direct quote.
Also, my dictionary has inspiration as the 6th definition: The act of drawing in the breathe; inhalation: opposed to expiration.
The English language is nuts anyway! rightoe! :lol:
Irons. Great; H2O2 seems useful in many many reactions.
Also, my dictionary has inspiration as the 6th definition: The act of drawing in the breathe; inhalation: opposed to expiration.
The English language is nuts anyway! rightoe! :lol:
Irons. Great; H2O2 seems useful in many many reactions.
Irons
Well-known member
A number of years ago I read about someone who was killed when they opened the valve on a cylinder of H2S and just happened to take a breath.
The smell is usually so bad that people don't stick around long enough to get ill.
The smell is usually so bad that people don't stick around long enough to get ill.
I took the time to look through some books and found that HCN is actually worse than H2S, by several times.
Both are gases Chuck, HCN is just easier to liquefy than H2S.
H2S does deaden smell, but that is a good indication that you are in trouble. I'm fairly certain that HCN also deadens your sense of smell for an obvious reason--it kills the cells in your nasal passages responsible for registering the odour.
I've smelled both of them, and if I had to pick one to smell, it would probably be H2S because if I can still smell it, then I'm not above the hazard limits. One lungful of HCN that's around 300ppm will kill you in less than a minute.
.
Soon I will take the time to put a proper discourse on safety terms on this forum.
As for mercury, the vapour pressure at STP is actually quite small (probably several thousand times less than water) but its toxicity threshold is exceeded by its vapour pressure! So not much Hg is needed to poison you.
http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/phys/mercury.htm#Pois
Both are gases Chuck, HCN is just easier to liquefy than H2S.
H2S does deaden smell, but that is a good indication that you are in trouble. I'm fairly certain that HCN also deadens your sense of smell for an obvious reason--it kills the cells in your nasal passages responsible for registering the odour.
I've smelled both of them, and if I had to pick one to smell, it would probably be H2S because if I can still smell it, then I'm not above the hazard limits. One lungful of HCN that's around 300ppm will kill you in less than a minute.
.
Soon I will take the time to put a proper discourse on safety terms on this forum.
As for mercury, the vapour pressure at STP is actually quite small (probably several thousand times less than water) but its toxicity threshold is exceeded by its vapour pressure! So not much Hg is needed to poison you.
http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/phys/mercury.htm#Pois
eagle2
Well-known member
A good ol` Funk and Wagnalls 
yvonbug
Well-known member
I'm just letting you guys know that I'm reading all this, and though some of it is beyond me, I've definitely gotten the fear of mercury now. Now I've got to grind it into my husbands brain. Thanks, all of you, we needed that -Y-
Absolutsecurity
Well-known member
Your husband should research and build a retort for mercury contaminated gold - the only way I remove mercury from gold is with a mercury retort and I make sure all the joints are sealed and the condenser is properly cooled as well as the end shrouded/cloaked in cheese cloth emersed in ice water. after the retort does its job then you have clean mercury to start over again with out contaminating the enviroment. After the retort you can use conventional wet refining to finish.
We have to make refining safe and the safest way is the best way!!
Glynn
We have to make refining safe and the safest way is the best way!!
Glynn
