thesmug
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Pressure in chemical bottles w/ temperature
I recently got a huge shipment of chemicals, which includes many liquids. The bottles they come in don't have an enormous amount of air space
so I'm a little concerned with the temperature of my storage room. It is around room temp., but always feels a little warm. I was wondering if this
would be an issue with things like acetone, ethanol, etc... I don't really want a bottle of something to spontaneously explode  !
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confused
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i had that happen while trying to synthesize trichloromethane once, failed to take into consideration the vapour pressure of it, the container
exploded.
but i live in thr tropics, where the temperature is a constant 30'C
but never had that happen when storing chemicals indoors or in the lab where the temperature is about 25'c
if you're very concerned about the buildup of pressure, you might want to open the caps of the bottle to vent the pressure every now and then.
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thesmug
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Quote: Originally posted by confused  | i had that happen while trying to synthesize trichloromethane once, failed to take into consideration the vapour pressure of it, the container
exploded.
but i live in thr tropics, where the temperature is a constant 30'C
but never had that happen when storing chemicals indoors or in the lab where the temperature is about 25'c
if you're very concerned about the buildup of pressure, you might want to open the caps of the bottle to vent the pressure every now and then.
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That's what I thought of doing.
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MrHomeScientist
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If you're concerned, buy a small lab fridge. That's what I did for things with high vapor pressure like dichloromethane, and a little fridge is cheap.
I use that more to cut down on vapors leaking through the caps. I'm not concerned at all about bottles exploding due to minor temperature changes in
my house.
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testimento
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The thick glass industrial bottles hold against pressure quite well, and their bursting pressures could be even as high as 10-20 bars, so in ordinary
temperatures, between 0-40C there would be no major risk, except those of special note like ethers and very low boiling liquids which should be stored
in fridge. I have seen ether being sold in large aluminium containers which are neatly shaped so they would probably easily hold those pressures
before rupturing.
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Oscilllator
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You really only need to refrigerate about solvents with a b.p. near room temperature (diethyl ether, dichloromethane, pentanes etc). Those are the
only ones that have any chance at all of exploding at room temperature. Also, releasing the cap to release pressure is pointless in this situation,
since the pressure will build up to where it was before in a matter of minutes. The only time you need to open the cap to release pressure is with
chemicals that decompose, like H2O2.
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thesmug
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| Quote: Originally posted by Oscilllator | | You really only need to refrigerate about solvents with a b.p. near room temperature (diethyl ether, dichloromethane, pentanes etc). Those are the
only ones that have any chance at all of exploding at room temperature. Also, releasing the cap to release pressure is pointless in this situation,
since the pressure will build up to where it was before in a matter of minutes. The only time you need to open the cap to release pressure is with
chemicals that decompose, like H2O2. |
How often do you vent your H2O2?
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Mailinmypocket
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Do you refrigerate your peroxide? I have seen it sold in these accordion shaped bottles that expand(I've only seen this with Flinn Scientific, the
most safety paranoid company I've ever seen). The 35% peroxide I get is food grade (no stabilizers added) and the bottles are in the fridge... Even
the brand new one that I haven't opened since I bought it over a year ago made no "pssssssht" when I opened it just now.
[Edited on 1-3-2014 by Mailinmypocket]
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Oscilllator
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| Quote: Originally posted by thesmug | | Quote: Originally posted by Oscilllator | | You really only need to refrigerate about solvents with a b.p. near room temperature (diethyl ether, dichloromethane, pentanes etc). Those are the
only ones that have any chance at all of exploding at room temperature. Also, releasing the cap to release pressure is pointless in this situation,
since the pressure will build up to where it was before in a matter of minutes. The only time you need to open the cap to release pressure is with
chemicals that decompose, like H2O2. |
How often do you vent your H2O2? |
Never. I'm not sure, but I think it has a cap that releases pressure, which is why H2O2 leaked out in the postage  . At any rate, I have never noticed a release of pressure when I open the bottle.
@Mailinmypocket I dont refrigerate my peroxide but this is only because I don't have a lab fridge.
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