Storing chemicals

[rewalston]

Ok this is probably a very stupid question, if it is let me know I'm used to it :lol: . I have seen in a few topics to store your acids where they won't freeze. I live in Ontario, Canada and in the summer temperature isn't a problem, but in the winter EVERYTHING freezes. Where would be the safest place I can store my acids and solutions? I have a couple of 5 gal food grade buckets that I was going to use as a stock pot but I need someplace that I can store them without freezing or without one of our many cats knocking them over. Any ideas?

Rusty

 

[Militoy]

You could try an aquarium heater set on low, or a low power reptile "hot rock" or hot pad from a pet store set under each bucket. Can't help you with the possibility of the cats disturbing your work - I suspect the fumes will keep them at bay.

 

[Harold_V]

I have a couple of 5 gal food grade buckets that I was going to use as a stock pot

Blink! Blink!

A couple five gallon buckets for a stock pot? (It's not a problem, just overkill)

Food for thought:

I refined on a continual basis, often with solutions that contained traces of the platinum group, but far too low to recover by conventional methods. I sent them to the stock pot, which I kept filled with small pieces of scrap steel. I do not recall, ever, running out of space, and my stock pot was nothing more than a 5 quart ice cream bucket (I also kept my solutions quite concentrated). If you keep the stock pot well supplied with scrap steel, cementation happens quickly---so you can empty the bucket of valueless solutions quickly. As is usual, one tests with stannous chloride to insure values have been extracted.

Hydrogen is evolved from the stock pot. It should be kept near the fume hood, if not inside. Do not use a stock pot in an enclosed area. There is a real risk of an explosion or fire.

Harold

 

[Militoy]

...Hydrogen is evolved from the stock pot. It should be kept near the fume hood, if not inside. Do not use a stock pot in an enclosed area. There is a real risk of an explosion or fire.

Harold

On second thought - I'd skip the idea of the aquarium heater - unless you use one of the sealed plastic fully-submersible types.

 

[rewalston]

I have a couple of 5 gal food grade buckets that I was going to use as a stock pot

Blink! Blink!

A couple five gallon buckets for a stock pot? (It's not a problem, just overkill)


Harold

Thanks Harold, I was planning actually to use one of them for working with AP, and the other for stock. I will be working outside so the fumes, etc. won't be a problem. I was just thinking for the cold months that I might need some place besides a portable shed to keep the stuff from freezing. I don't know what the affect of freezing would do to the stock pot (and the liquids inside). I wish that I had a garage or something that could be heated but unfortunately I don't. I haven't started processing anything yet, still collecting materials. I'm just forecasting possible troubles for winter. Thanks everyone for your help.

Rusty

 

[Barren Realms 007]

I have a couple of 5 gal food grade buckets that I was going to use as a stock pot

Blink! Blink!

A couple five gallon buckets for a stock pot? (It's not a problem, just overkill)


Harold

Thanks Harold, I was planning actually to use one of them for working with AP, and the other for stock. I will be working outside so the fumes, etc. won't be a problem. I was just thinking for the cold months that I might need some place besides a portable shed to keep the stuff from freezing. I don't know what the affect of freezing would do to the stock pot (and the liquids inside). I wish that I had a garage or something that could be heated but unfortunately I don't. I haven't started processing anything yet, still collecting materials. I'm just forecasting possible troubles for winter. Thanks everyone for your help.

Rusty

You acids should be ok in the cold and should not freeze unless they are mostly water.

 

[4metals]

You could build yourself a well insulated storage cabinet with enough shelving for your acid bottles, waste solutions and stock pots. The stock pot is actually always percolating even if it is not noticeable. To prevent problems seal a hose into a tight fitting lid on the stock pot and pass the hose out of the cabinet and even outdoors, any gas generated will vent out but the bucket will not freeze in the cabinet.

Heat it with incandescent light bulbs wired to a thermostat. If you have enough insulation and keep the internal volume big enough to store what you need but not oversized, it isn't too expensive to run.

I know of one small business who refines in an out building which only has heat when he fires up the wood stove. He uses an insulated storage cabinet and has -20 F winter temps. He just goes out to the shed, fires up the stove, goes back to the house for coffee and in 1/2 an hour the room is warm and then he opens up the cabinet and is ready to go. When you work in a cold environment you can appreciate using outside make-up air to replace the fume hood exhaust, all internal in the hood, so you don't suck too much precious heat out of the work area.

The trick is never put anything in the insulated shed that is still reacting, and never tightly seal a container of reacted acid.