Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Proper disposal of hydrazine sulfate leftover liquid

ManyInterests - 27-10-2021 at 20:16

I finally worked up the courage (and got all the necessary stuff for creation and neutralization) and made my first batch of hydrazine sulfate. The only mishap I had when making it is that I added the sulfuric acid too fast at the end, thankfully I was using half the volume of Nile Red and the rest, so the foam didn't spill. I'm not going to do that again though.

The only other issue is cooling. Hydrazine appears to really, really like to retain its heat. It took forever to cool down and I thought my batch was a dud. Thankfully I got my crystals out when the temp was around 14 degrees Celsius so I hope I didn't get much sodium sulfate.

But there was an issue... I just want to know if I disposed of the leftover liquid/liqueur or whatever you want to call it. On the wiki they said hydrazine can be disposed of with a dilute calcium hypochlorite solution. I also saw a video where someone uses the same bleach they used to make the thing to neutralize the hydrazine.

I decided to do both. I made a murky, almost saturated solution of calcium hypochlorite. Though when I dumped the stuff in there I had no idea it would fizz as it did. It even needed a few spoonfuls of the stuff for the fizzing to stop. It also fizzed further when I poured the bleach (pool chlorinator at 10.8%). It worked. I also learned a lesson to never do this in my bathroom. Thankfully from you guys here I learned how to clean out the air. It should be completely clear of everything by morning...

After doing all that to the left over hydrazine, I diluted it further with water and flushed it down the toilet. Did I do this correctly? Or did I miss a step? Making hydrazine sulfate is by far the most time consuming thing I've ever done. I might do it once more, but after that I should have enough hydrazine sulfate for all my needs.


MidLifeChemist - 3-11-2021 at 19:39

>>but after that I should have enough hydrazine sulfate for all my needs.

What are those needs?

j_sum1 - 3-11-2021 at 20:22

I would do this outside. In a bucket. Using standard household bleach.
I made some years ago (only a small batch of a few grams) and never got round to using it. I won't trust it and will make some more at some stage. I intend to dospose of my current batch in this manner.

Bottom line is that a reducing agent like that is not going to survive a strong oxidiser like hypochlorite. The reaction might not be pretty and so caution is required. But once neutralised it should be safe.

ManyInterests - 8-11-2021 at 09:33

Quote: Originally posted by MidLifeChemist  
>>but after that I should have enough hydrazine sulfate for all my needs.

What are those needs?


I want to make some nickel hydrazine nitrate. It's the safest primary explosive out there and the only one I have any willingness to work with.

Quote:
I would do this outside. In a bucket. Using standard household bleach.


Normal household bleach works to neutralize it? Why is that not mentioned in the wiki? It only mentions calcium hypochlorite. If that is the case, it will make things much easier. But I already have the calcium hypochlorite anyway. So might as well use it.

Tsjerk - 8-11-2021 at 09:46

Calcium and sodium hypochlorite will work identically.

It would probably have been more save to dump the whole thing down the toilet to begin with when not working in a fumehood. The bacteria down the line won't mind a bit of hydrazine, or a lot of it over time. But the fizzing will have spread quite a bit of hydrazine in the area where you were.

Toxic compounds should be disposed of in a correct manner, but the hydrazine isn't toxic to the regular sewer system, whereas it is toxic when inhaled in a bathroom.

[Edited on 8-11-2021 by Tsjerk]

ManyInterests - 8-11-2021 at 21:35

More information I could been told earlier. But that's OK. I sprayed hypochlorite all over my bathroom and everywhere else it could have gone. It wasn't that bad. My apartment smelt like a swimming pool for a bit. I probably won't make hydrazine again, but since you informed me of that I am better equipped.

Right now my biggest problem is still NO2. My current run of nitric acid creation for some reason made more than normal. While my step-ups stopped any from getting into my living space previously, for some reason this time some seeped in. I had to degassify everything again.

[Edited on 9-11-2021 by ManyInterests]