Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Purple Haze (Moscow Version)

mayko - 17-8-2019 at 06:18
Quote:

A garbage incineration plant reportedly owned by the son of Russia’s attorney general has been filmed spewing purple smoke on the eastern outskirts of Moscow for at least the third time in as many years.


https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/08/15/moscow-trash-incin...

Any guesses what this is? It looks a bit like iodine to me, but that also seems like it would be a lot of $$$ just venting into the air.

Morgan - 17-8-2019 at 08:36

One possibility?
https://www.wgal.com/article/pink-smoke-spotted-coming-from-...


One comment
"I work with iodine complexes at my job and through that have done a fair bit of research on iodine. If I had to make a guess it's just elemental iodine vapor which readily sublimated. I've come across the pentaoxide but if I recall it's not easy to produce so I'd be surprised if it was formed in measurable quantities. Iodates are pretty strong oxidizers which I use to oxidize iodide (I-) to iodine (I2). The kinetics of the iodine chemistry is actually pretty fascinating when you have iodine in solution its poorly soluble but adding an iodide salt like KI helps solubilize it by forming triiodide (I3-). Along with that there are several small side reactions in water with various forms including iodic acid that are possible. Here's a good read on the topic"
https://books.google.com/books?id=3f-kPJ17_TYC&lpg=PA159...
https://www.reddit.com/r/chemistry/comments/b6ygc6/pink_smok...

Ubya - 17-8-2019 at 23:34

Quote: Originally posted by mayko  

that also seems like it would be a lot of $$$ just venting into the air.


probably they didn't even know what they were burning, or if they did, they didn't care. to make a cloud that big you need a lot of iodine to sublime. maybe concentrated industrial waste or some old stock chemical disposal

Steam - 18-8-2019 at 13:49

+1 on the iodine hypothesis. I wonder what they were burning. Perhaps some old photographic film/reagents maybe- I believe they contains iodine compounds.

Assured Fish - 18-8-2019 at 14:10

I reckon its a little too pink to be iodine.
Perhaps an anthraquinone derivitive.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solvent_Violet_13

XeonTheMGPony - 19-8-2019 at 03:59

or a mineral dye made it in

Morgan - 19-8-2019 at 13:03

I think iodine vapor could be said to be pink at times.
https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/1789/view/conical-flask-c...

Maybe if you incinerated bags and bags of betadine soaked gauze from a hospital, something like that might color smokestack emissions.

"Iodine can sublimate into a violet-pink gas." (a caption below photo)
https://www.livescience.com/37441-iodine.html

I remember mixing iodine, ammonium nitrate, and zinc dust which ignited producing a beautiful long tall column of billowing smoke transitioning from an enchanting blue-tinted hue to a pink-violet color with roiling clouds which made me think maybe temperature might have something to do with the subtle color change. Probably the other chemicals impart something or amplify the effect of iodine vapor, certainly they help make a more profuse amount of smoke.
Another time I ground a much smaller amount of iodine and NH4NO3 in a mortar and pestle until it was quite intimate and then tried to add the zinc dust which ignited spontaneously after it was shortly mixed in, resulting in a sudden burst of flames and beautiful smoke and me instantly dropping the mortar and pestle getting slightly burned on the hands in the process. Not quite like flash powder but close.

This was interesting how air deepens the color. See paragraph 2.
CLXXVII.—The effect of gases on the colour of iodine vapour, and the solvent action of various vapours on solid iodine
https://pubs.rsc.org/is/content/articlelanding/1929/jr/jr929...

"The molecular lattice contains discrete diatomic molecules, which are also present in the molten and the gaseous states. Above 700 °C (1,300 °F), dissociation into iodine atoms becomes appreciable.?"

[Edited on 20-8-2019 by Morgan]

Morgan - 20-8-2019 at 10:03

Aside from the Pennsylvania release I came across this other account of iodine smoke in New Jersey.

The Pennsylvania event - if you blowup the still photo it seems the smoke is at first all blue-violet and then cools or dilutes to a more pinkish tint.
https://www.wgal.com/article/pink-smoke-spotted-coming-from-...

New Jersey event
Sierra Club: Iodine Release from Newark Incinerator a Public Health Concern
"Covanta, owners of the incinerator in the Ironbound section of Newark, released iodine into the air this week. Pink smoke wafting from the plant’s smokestack raised public concerns about what was being burned at the facility. A Covanta spokesman said the discoloration resulted from iodine that had been improperly discarded in other waste."
https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/sierra-club-iodine-r...

A video in this link
https://patch.com/new-jersey/newarknj/essex-county-trash-inc...

S.C. Wack - 20-8-2019 at 13:25

If you read Max Gergel's books you will remember that Columbia Organic Chemical Co. often made purple smoke. But if you want a nice pink-purple, permanganate in steam will do. Is methcathinone still popular in Russia?

Morgan - 20-8-2019 at 15:23

Quote: Originally posted by S.C. Wack  
If you read Max Gergel's books you will remember that Columbia Organic Chemical Co. often made purple smoke. But if you want a nice pink-purple, permanganate in steam will do. Is methcathinone still popular in Russia?


Maybe this from "The Ageless Gergel"
"Hydriodic acid is best made by someone you don't like; when
the explosion comes, as it almost invariably does, the financial loss is
usually accompanied by the resignation of the operator. In practice,
one makes HI by adding crude iodide to red phosphorus in water.
The mixture is cooked and the product distilled. If one does not distil
far enough, the yield is low and, because iodine is expensive, one
does not make a profit. If, on the other hand, one tries to bleed out
the last drib and drab, there is a generation of phosphine, a colorless,
highly inflammable gas. When this hits air, there is a lusty explosion
and the shattering report is enough to unnerve the most seasoned
technician. There was usually a quantity of purple vapor, which
spread over Cedar Terrace where our plant is located, and often a
visit from the fire department."

mayko - 5-8-2023 at 08:44

twice in as many days!

PinkSmokex2.png - 412kB


Iodine cause of pink smoke at Portland waste facility. (3 Aug 2023)
Quote:
Waste that contained iodine was the cause of pink smoke that was emitted at Ecomaine’s Portland waste facility on Thursday morning.


https://web.archive.org/web/20230805163131/https://www.bango...


Purple vapor continues to billow out of Portland waste management facility (4 Aug 2023)
Quote:
PORTLAND, Maine — For the second day in a row, mysterious purple vapor is once again billowing from the smokestack at Ecomaine’s waste management facility in Portland. [...] Ecomaine said on Friday they believe it is still iodine and are taking steps to address it. Ecomaine burns around 170,000 tons of commercial trash a year. Customers are reminded to properly dispose of their trash.


https://web.archive.org/web/20230805163131/https://www.bango...