How / where do you store muriatic acid?
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stevephillips
ArboristSite Member
I've got a gallon that's maybe 10 years old. The plastic jug is getting brittle. I'm going to have to do something with it (just not sure what.)
I expect that my memory was wrong on which was which. Thanks for the verification. I do know, however, that in equal concentrations they are equally chemically reactive (corrosiveness). One is not "more bad" than the other. The concentration of the muriatic acid sold for commercial use will be fairly low, otherwise the EPA, lawyers, & others would be having a field day condemning it, & people would be buggering themselves regularly because of careless handling. I have used HCL at the 36N (very reactive) concentration to pickle (remove oxidation) from gold which has been heated to around 1300 degrees F for casting. FWIW, if you combine HCL with HNO3 (nitric acid) you get a concoction known as Aqua Regia (Royal Water) which will dissolve gold. This has gone a little beyond the subject of how to best store this stuff which, I think, you answered very well. I thought the additional info. might be of some interest.
Correction: Mad professor gave the best answer to the storage question. You corrected me on the identification of muriatic acid. Thanks to boyh.
Concentrated hydrochloric acid is 37% HCl, 12.1 molar (12.1N), the common name for the 50% dilution is muriatic acid.
Concentrated Sulfuric acid is 98 % H2SO4, 18 molar (36N), common name is oil of vitriol. Undiluted it is a stronger acid than hydrochloric acid, the reason being the actual acid in concentrated hydrochloric acid is the hydronium ion (i.e. protonated water). Diluted Sulfuric acid is of similar strength as the same normality hydrochloric.
Nitric acid is an oxidizing acid, whose oxidizing power is increased when mixed with stronger acids (HCl, H2SO4), the reason being is production of the nitronium ion , NO2+
Concentrated Sulfuric acid is 98 % H2SO4, 18 molar (36N), common name is oil of vitriol. Undiluted it is a stronger acid than hydrochloric acid, the reason being the actual acid in concentrated hydrochloric acid is the hydronium ion (i.e. protonated water). Diluted Sulfuric acid is of similar strength as the same normality hydrochloric.
Nitric acid is an oxidizing acid, whose oxidizing power is increased when mixed with stronger acids (HCl, H2SO4), the reason being is production of the nitronium ion , NO2+
ncfarmboy
Addicted to ArboristSite
I have a gal. in the original plastic jug probably 20+ years old. The jug is severely bubbled. I poured up a small amt. in a plastic bottle for use. Had it on my steel workbench top rusted everything around it + 2 nice rings of rust where bottle sat. Ate right through a coat of rust kill paint. Thanks to all I know what to store in and where to put for storage.
Shep
Shep
Thanks again for the specifics. It has been 56yrs. since my gen. chem. class in college. The numbers & details mean something to me &, I think, to many others on here. I would expect that you teach chemistry. Judging by the response from NCFarmboy many or most will switch to glass containers.
Yes , glass with a teflon lined cap is best.
To stop any escape of HCl gas the cap can be dipped in hot (or sealed with wax from a candle) wax/parrafin. Another way to seal the cap is to wrap it with parafilm.
P.S. yes, been teaching chemistry 22 years now.
To stop any escape of HCl gas the cap can be dipped in hot (or sealed with wax from a candle) wax/parrafin. Another way to seal the cap is to wrap it with parafilm.
P.S. yes, been teaching chemistry 22 years now.
dsell
Addicted to ArboristSite
Where do you get a glass jar with a teflon lined cap?
They come that way if you buy the acid from a chemical company.
You can make liner for a regular cap from a sheet of thin teflon.
Find a slow running drain to clean and get rid of it.
Get some new pipes soon too!!!
Lye is a better choice, won't rot most plumbing metals
Didn't say it was a good choice for a drain cleaner but it is sold in the plumbing department with the drain cleaner.
J.Walker
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Spill a gallon of muriatic acid on a lime stone driveway and watch it fizz! :msp_ohmy:
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Bob Wright
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Baking soda and water will dilute/nutralize the acid. Always add the acid to the water. I use it as already mentioned to remove rust from steel parts and bluing from gun barrels. Then wash in baking soda and blow dry. Oil must be used to protect the new steel finish if not being painted or reblued. I do buckets full of flea market finds like old drill bits and rusty tools. They come out real nice in a few minutes...Bob
Bob Wright
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Yeah my neighbor is wondering where all the limestone is going LOL...Bob
From an Intro Chemistry text:
Sorry to get a bit off subject but you might find this amusing as it concerns nitric acid.
The following is a passage from Ira Remsen (Prof. of Chemistry and Physics Williams College 1872-76) describing his introduction to chemistry.
While reading a textbook of chemistry, I came upon the statement 'nitric acid acts on copper....'. I was tired of reading such absurd stuff, and I determined to see what this meant…. I was even willing to sacrifice one of the few copper cents in my possession. I put one of them on a table; opened the bottle marked ‘nitric acid’; poured some of the liquid on the copper and prepared to make observation. But what was this wonderful thing I beheld? The cent had already changed, and it was no small change either. A greenish blue liquid foamed and fumed over the cent and over the table. The air in the neighborhood of the performance became colored dark red. A great colored cloud arose. This was disagreeable and suffocating—how should I stop this? I tried to get rid of the objectionable mess by picking it up and throwing it out the window. I learned another fact—nitric acid acts not only on copper but it acts upon fingers. The pain led to another unpremeditated experiment. I drew my hands across my trousers and discovered the nitric acid acts upon trousers……….
Sorry to get a bit off subject but you might find this amusing as it concerns nitric acid.
The following is a passage from Ira Remsen (Prof. of Chemistry and Physics Williams College 1872-76) describing his introduction to chemistry.
While reading a textbook of chemistry, I came upon the statement 'nitric acid acts on copper....'. I was tired of reading such absurd stuff, and I determined to see what this meant…. I was even willing to sacrifice one of the few copper cents in my possession. I put one of them on a table; opened the bottle marked ‘nitric acid’; poured some of the liquid on the copper and prepared to make observation. But what was this wonderful thing I beheld? The cent had already changed, and it was no small change either. A greenish blue liquid foamed and fumed over the cent and over the table. The air in the neighborhood of the performance became colored dark red. A great colored cloud arose. This was disagreeable and suffocating—how should I stop this? I tried to get rid of the objectionable mess by picking it up and throwing it out the window. I learned another fact—nitric acid acts not only on copper but it acts upon fingers. The pain led to another unpremeditated experiment. I drew my hands across my trousers and discovered the nitric acid acts upon trousers……….
Wax is a material that "breath". Not totally leak proof. I make cheese and wax them fir aging, as it age it release mousture trough the wax. Just my though.
Welcome to the site, old thread, don't know if anyone is still following it? Jump in on something newer, always nice to have a new guy in town.
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
I keep my gas jugs and that stuff out in the shed.
Just keep stuff I often use or can't freeze in the garage.
I do have a 30 gallon solvent washer in the garage, but I close the lid when I'm welding or grinding on stuff. It's in the corner too, away from the main garage work area.
Acid, I'd maybe put in a small rubbermaid tote, or get rid of it if not used.
Last time I used some was on a Briggs crank. I think I used the rest on an experiment on a junk lawn tractor engine seeing it resolve. Haha
Just keep stuff I often use or can't freeze in the garage.
I do have a 30 gallon solvent washer in the garage, but I close the lid when I'm welding or grinding on stuff. It's in the corner too, away from the main garage work area.
Acid, I'd maybe put in a small rubbermaid tote, or get rid of it if not used.
Last time I used some was on a Briggs crank. I think I used the rest on an experiment on a junk lawn tractor engine seeing it resolve. Haha
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