HCl Storage

[dangerousamateur]

Hi there,

 

I've got two bottles of HCl 37% here.

 

And i'm beginning to hate this stuff, the bottles and also other ones standing next to them feel wet and have some residue on them. Also you can smell it a little.

 

The dealer ripped me off, the bottles are plastic but they where supposed to be glas...

 

 

So, in short, how can I store this stuff without ANY exchange with the environment?

Do I need PTFE seals or is it the whole plastic bottle?

[WSM]

Hi there,

I've got two bottles of HCl 37% here.

And i'm beginning to hate this stuff, the bottles and also other ones standing next to them feel wet and have some residue on them. Also you can smell it a little.

The dealer ripped me off, the bottles are plastic but they where supposed to be glas...

So, in short, how can I store this stuff without ANY exchange with the environment?

Do I need PTFE seals or is it the whole plastic bottle?

 

The typical cap for acid bottles has an angled stopper type of closure inside the cap of the bottle, usually made of semi-clear polyethylene. If they don't seal properly, I've been known to remove that clear insert and replace it with a flat disk cut from Teflon sheet. I use gasket punches, but they can be cut with scissors if you're careful.

 

Once the bottles are sealed properly, rinse the outside of them with fresh tap water and dry them with clean old rags. Set them in a safe storage area and check them occasionally for a repeat of the problem. If the problem doesn't come back, you're good to go.

 

You can clean up the "moisture" on the outside of the bottles with rags wetted with water and sodium bicarbonate. Be sure to wear rubber or Nitrile gloves to protect your hands (and wear clothes you don't mind ruining, just in case).

 

Congratulations on your acquisition of reagent grade HCl. Use it wisely.

 

WSM

[taiwanluthiers]

In Taiwan they sell 37% HCl in plastic PE bottles, packaged like any old toilet cleaners, for cleaning toilets. Used it in the military to clean the washroom... had to dilute it because it was way too strong. We didn't have a lab so all I did was fill a bottle with water, then add the acid to the water. It was done in a manner that there's no way something can splash out. The acid was so strong that the applicator nozzle was deformed by the acid!

[Potassiumchlorate]

In my country they sell 30% HCl in plastic bottles. 37% is free to buy, but you have to buy it from a chemistry supplier, while the 30% is available in most hardware stores.

[Swede]

HCl should do OK in quality nalgene-type plastic bottles. Cheap plastic bottles rarely seal well, but Nalgene (or equivalent) should have an industry-standard cap that does seal 100%. You could store it inverted and be OK. So it might be wise to invest in a half dozen 1 liter Nalgenes or equivalent. These will also work with sulfuric. Only concentrated nitric doesn't go well with HDPE plastic.

[pyroshell]

here I can buy 37% HCL at the hardware store it comes if PE jugs. They sell it for concrete etching and pool cleaning. In the spring to late summer it goes for around $3.50 or less for one gallon. It has a can resembling that of a bottle of bleach or the cap for a pill bottle. It has been sitting there for about two and a half years without any issues. The temp in the winter months was low at below freezing point (of water at see level) and it the summer it got up to 115F. so I would say that that is a viable way to store it. As Swede said make sure that the cap is air tight.

[dangerousamateur]

I just uncovered the whole mess. Two nearby metallic acetone and gas canisters are almost eaten through. All this happened in since april, when I placed the bottle there... I'm quite shocked. A rusty mess. F!ck.

 

I just got me some new glassbottles and teflon caps. The bottle with cap is worth more than the acid but i can't help it.

 

Do you think my acid lost strengh allready?

Since HCl escapes, but the water likely stays in the bottle this wont go on forever?

[WSM]

I just uncovered the whole mess. Two nearby metallic acetone and gas canisters are almost eaten through. All this happened in since april, when I placed the bottle there... I'm quite shocked. A rusty mess. F!ck.

I just got me some new glassbottles and teflon caps. The bottle with cap is worth more than the acid but i can't help it.

Do you think my acid lost strengh allready?

Since HCl escapes, but the water likely stays in the bottle this wont go on forever?

 

I think you're right. A good closure should help, but without that the acid's strength will probably diminish with time (especially in warm weather) and kiss good goodby any susceptible metal within reach of the fumes or vapors!

 

Sorry to hear about your gas and acetone bottles being compromised (oxy-acetylene outfit?) .

 

WSM

[dangerousamateur]

Sorry to hear about your gas and acetone bottles being compromised (oxy-acetylene outfit?) .

Oh no, not that bad. With gas I meant petrol

Just a jerrycan.

 

Taught me a beginners lesson though.

[Swede]

I am a nut about quality chemical storage. It makes me a little crazy at how many potent or dangerous chemicals are stored (and shipped in!) flimsy ziplocs and the like. Nothing like opening a shipment of barium nitrate to find it in a ziploc. Hey, at least he put tape over the opening! What a joke. Even minor mishandling could poison someone, or start a fire.

 

It takes study or experience to know what chems can be stored in what containers. With few exceptions, HDPE can handle powders and other dry chemicals, and the exceptions are all pretty exotic stuff outside the purview of pyrotechnics.

 

As mentioned, HCl and sulfuric do fine in quality HDPE with lids that seal, but you will still have some loss, very slowly over time. Labels on acid bottles get brittle, and that is from fumes.

 

Conc. nitric demands quality containers, like glass jugs with fluoropolymer (teflon-based) caps, or liners at a minimum. These are expensive, so the average acid shipment uses cheap caps that can decay.

 

Since chemical bottle threads are standardized, and HDPE caps aren't expensive, it might be worth it to buy a few extra, and when one seems ready to fail, replace it. Again, that's mostly for nitric. HF, all I know is no glass, and it can kill you easily, so I'll never mess with it.

[Algenco]

off topic , but many years ago I worked at a Stainless Steel finishing plant.

I was in the Maintenance Dept, one of my duties was to check the level in the acid storage tanks once per week.

On the Nitric tank there was a metal box (aluminum I think) covering the fill opening and vent, Nitric fumes had eaten a lot of the steel grate around those fittings, but the amazing thing was a Mourning Dove had built a nest under the box and was sitting on eggs!!

How she survived the fumes was beyond me.

 

Wish still had access to the acids, we kept about 10,000 g of Nitric and sulpheric at all times, it was uses to clean the flat rolled stainless after processing.

[NdYAG]

Hey all, I'm a bench chemist, and even the coated (so they don't shatter) chemical / factory glass bottles have HCl condensation on the outside, after being opened, even with their lids tight. The condensate usually eats away at the label and the coating after a while, but I go through the bottles quick enough in the lab not to worry about it. The best thing to do is get the right container, which a few have been mentioned, keep acids (especially concentrated) in their own storage cabinet due to the fumes (cool and dark, because the acid itself is a gas at normal room temp), and check them for condensate occasionally. If there is any, clean it off with gloves, plenty of water, old clothes and old rags as someone said.

 

As for bottles, I prefer pyrex (borosilicate glass) bottles with teflon caps, but they're not cheap. The come in various sizes and both clear and amber.