Sciencemadness Discussion Board - How to store calcium

How to store calcium

Prasedy - 25-2-2014 at 07:41

I bought calcium. The drum is about 30 cm in height. For this 2,6kg (2kg Ca) drum I paid 9 Eur. Urgently I must to isolate this from oxygen. For a half of year the drum stayed vice versa and much of oil get out, and smeared on 10kg of Nickel acetate. Visually I can not see any smallest holes. Question is - is it safe to open the drum , - how fast will oxygen penetrate the calcium? I have no experience with working with Calcium. And what kind of mineral oils does not oxidize the calcium? On Internet shop I found pile of various Oils, I dot know what to choose. When I'll open that drum I'd want to have a oil on hand, I hope the fire will not start

. I have no slightest notion whats inside . When shaking on sound there is much of big piece metalic collisions. . Anyway its strange if the drum is made in 1968 and not oxidized so far.
http://lejup.lv/f/530cb88d5c2e0zbkqxpk1393342605.jpg

IrC - 25-2-2014 at 08:11

If your sure it is pure Ca metal (not hydride), and know it is not a fine powder (and air is not heavily water laden - pick a dry day), then you do not need to be very worried assuming no other chemicals are involved. Typically Ca metal is drop formed meaning balls 6 to 10 mm in diameter. In dry air in this large smooth round form you could pour them on a table and watch it do nothing at all. All day. Get a better container large enough to hold it all and fill with mineral oil keeping all moisture away from it. I have dropped these balls in a beaker full of water and even after slight heating only noticed tiny bubbles of hydrogen, and not much of that. Neither have I noticed much going on with a half inch diameter ball sitting on a shelf for weeks. Just remember if in fine powder form you really do need to be careful. When I first purchased Ca balls I read the wiki page on Ca metal and was very worried about it's reactivity. Later really irritated when even in water it just refused to do anything (like creating hydroxide - releasing H2). After realizing what a pain in the ass getting Ca metal in this ball form to react, I ended up buying a pound of Calcium Hydroxide as my goal was making Calcium Aluminates for my glow powder experiments.

Calcium

Prasedy - 25-2-2014 at 08:47

This is definitely a calcium. On label there is written in russian. And I searched for GOST number (russian stadart) in Iternet . That calcium is not granular but something like big cones, 95% pure. When shaking its also sounds like something big pieces. At my local shop there is a mineral oil in 80ml bottles for 1,7eur. Thats something expensive if I have to buy something like 1,5l. They do not offer larger bottles. I also went into the car parts Store but there are dozens of oils, I dont know what to choose. I have a fear that the car oil will have additives that will react with Calcium. Ok, if you swear that Calcium can wait a week without oil, tomorrow I'll open the drum and make photos. This evening its too dark outside. Sorry for my bad english

[Edited on 25-2-2014 by Prasedy]

[Edited on 25-2-2014 by Prasedy]

DraconicAcid - 25-2-2014 at 09:11

You should be able to find "paraffin oil", which will work better than motor oil.

Zyklon-A - 25-2-2014 at 09:25

Yes, and at Home Depot, they have mineral oil, which works fine.
Would petroleum jelly work? It may seem like a stupid question, but it melts at around 40°C, and although it's kind of messy, it's very easy to get.

IrC - 25-2-2014 at 09:38

Quote: Originally posted by Prasedy

This is definitely a calcium. On label there is written in russian. And I searched for GOST number (russian stadart) in Iternet . That calcium is not granular but something like big cones, 95% pure. When shaking its also sounds like something big pieces. At my local shop there is a mineral oil in 80ml bottles for 1,7eur. Thats something expensive if I have to buy something like 1,5l. They do not offer larger bottles. I also went into the car parts Store but there are dozens of oils, I dont know what to choose. I have a fear that the car oil will have additives that will react with Calcium. Ok, if you swear that Calcium can wait a week without oil, tomorrow I'll open the drum and make photos. This evening its too dark outside. Sorry for my bad english

Your not making sense and it is not your English skills. Wait until you have the oil and new container before you open it. I have no way to know what form it is nor what conditions it is under. I can only say my balls of pure Ca metal are very stable. How do you know some other chemical has not leaked into the container and has thus far remained stable with the container closed. Unlikely, but opening it and waiting for days is pointless and unwise. If oil can get out surely something can get in. At the very least even if nothing major happens it will be slowly reacting contaminating the metal. There is no reason nor is it logical to do as you suggest.

Motor oil? I posted 'mineral oil'. Motor oil has various stabilizers and detergents that even if nonreactive will surely contaminate the hell out of the Ca if there are any plans on doing work where purity is important. Mineral oil is a standard for reactive metal safe storage. Cheap and easy to obtain as well.

"I wasn't replying to your post- I was replying to Prasedy's comment about getting "car oil" from "the car parts Store".

I figured that out finally but you replied too fast. I read that more carefully and redid my post. Anyway hopefully one of us will get across the point you do not use motor oil for reactive metal storage.

"Would petroleum jelly work?"

Not a good idea as when stiff it leaves open spaces with air contacting metal. The purpose of oil is to completely coat all surfaces at all times blocking air contact.

[Edited on 2-25-2014 by IrC]

bfesser - 25-2-2014 at 15:48

The label from his photo reads <em>"кальций металлический Ca"</em> (calcium metallic Ca).