On Sun, 30 May 2004 18:39:18 -0400, (Padraigh
ProAmerica) wrote:

I just took the anual 8-hour HAZWOPER (First responder at operations
level) HAZMAT course; one of the areas covered by our instruction was on
protective equipment. He told us of an incident in Lynn, MA; the FD
responded to a fire at a chemical company. The fire was in an area where
there was a 100-pound vat of molten sodium. One of the firefighters
threw a shovel ful of sand on the sodium.
In solid form, sodium is highly reactive. In molten form, if it comes in
contact with ANY water, it explodes.
Maybe there had been some water on the shovel..or maybe in the sand.
Either way, the vat exploded.

Almost any sand that has been setting around is at least damp. Bad
stuff to throw on Sodium.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com
There were seven firefighters in the room. All seven had disregarded
instructions, and had their turnout gear in various forms of disarray.
All seven suffered severe, third-degree burns where their turnout gear
wsasn't as it should be. All seven are now permanently disabled.
1) ALWAYS use protective gear properly.
2) Never, NEVER mess with elemental sodium!!!




"There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americans"

Theodore Roosevelt

Roger Halstead wrote:


A lump of sodium might make one eligible for a Darwin Award

Oh, for heaven's sake.

Well, Cecil's classmate must have been a prime candidate, with his
original idea about flushing a large lump down the toilet. Can't you see
him, arriving at the Pearly Gates, still clutching the flush lever in
his hand...

Sodium is easily handled if you are familiar with the stuff.
[...]
Don't get it near water

On the north coast of Scotland there used to be a nuclear power reactor
that was cooled by molten sodium. On the other side of the main heat
exchanger was high-pressure water, separated by the thinnest possible
sheets of metal. The guys who operated the heat exchangers used to
complain about that highly corrosive liquid... but they were talking
about the water.


--
73 from Ian G3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek

On Tue, 1 Jun 2004 07:53:11 +0100, "Ian White, G3SEK"
wrote:

Roger Halstead wrote:


A lump of sodium might make one eligible for a Darwin Award

Oh, for heaven's sake.

Well, Cecil's classmate must have been a prime candidate, with his
original idea about flushing a large lump down the toilet. Can't you see
him, arriving at the Pearly Gates, still clutching the flush lever in
his hand...

I had thought of that, but thought I'd leave it be LOL Most likely
some one the next floor down would get the bath. More than one cherry
bomb and M-80 has gone "down the tubes" in years gone by.
..

Sodium is easily handled if you are familiar with the stuff.
[...]
Don't get it near water

On the north coast of Scotland there used to be a nuclear power reactor
that was cooled by molten sodium. On the other side of the main heat
exchanger was high-pressure water, separated by the thinnest possible
sheets of metal. The guys who operated the heat exchangers used to
complain about that highly corrosive liquid... but they were talking
about the water.

De-ionized water wants ions and it'll take them from any available
metal. It's particularly corrosive with brass. We had a series of
induction heating units that used high power RF. The tubes and coils
were cooled with de ionized water. A brass hose barb would crumble in
your hand after only a years exposure to the di water.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Yeh, now Phosphorus, otoh, is extremely reactive to OXYGEN (O2)! This
stuff, keep submerged in oil- DO NOT EXPOSE TO AIR- as to the results- Keep
sodium, and Potassium away from water, Keep Phosphorus away from air, and be
sure NOT TO GET THESE BACKWARDS!! Magnesium also is interesting, but needs
to be ignighted, and as for POWDERED ALUMINUM, -well need I get too
explicit?
had friend, that was given a bucket of the stuff (was used to make aluminium
paint, in the 30's) and told to get rid of it- decided to throw it in the
incinerator-- Ill leave it to your immagination just WHAT happened!!
Jim

--
No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However, a large number
of electrons were terribly inconvenienced !

" People who never get carried away, should be! " --- Malcom Forbes

"Roger Halstead" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 30 May 2004 21:30:17 GMT, John Bachtel
In high school chem lab we used to get to play with Sodium and
Phosphorus. Now days they wouldn't even do the demos and as kids we
were able to do them ourselves.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Roger Halstead wrote:
The guys who operated the heat exchangers used to
complain about that highly corrosive liquid... but they were talking
about the water.

De-ionized water wants ions and it'll take them from any available
metal. It's particularly corrosive with brass. We had a series of
induction heating units that used high power RF. The tubes and coils
were cooled with de ionized water. A brass hose barb would crumble in
your hand after only a years exposure to the di water.

Vicious stuff, that water.

The added problem with tube power amplifiers is that there's usually
high voltage around. DI water is a good insulator, but if there are
enough ions in solution the leakage current will cause electrolysis...
which dissolves more metal ions, and then the whole system goes rapidly
downhill.

According to an article by N6CA (which was in the ARRL Handbooks for
some years) the secret is to monitor the DC leakage current, and change
the water when the current starts to creep upward. Modern plastic
components help a lot, by minimizing the total area of exposed metal.


--
73 from Ian G3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek

Yepper, When I was in college some friends dumped 5 gal of gasoline in a storm drain the threw in a piece of sodium. Blew off all the manhole covers for 3 blocks.
"John Bachtel" wrote in message ...
A lump of sodium might make one eligible for a Darwin Award
jrb de nr4jb

AB2RC wrote:

On 2004-05-25, cva wrote:

..

absolutely nothing....

but asked the following question in the subject header
"Where can I get a lump of Sodium?"

I don't even want to know why you would want a lump of soduim, but look here

http://www.labdepotinc.com/chemical_...pid~S1100.aspx





--
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.. Note: Address modified to avoid so-called "spam". To reply via .
.. e-mail, delete "the .30047" from address! tnx/jrb .
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Roger Halstead wrote:
In high school chem lab we used to get to play with Sodium and
Phosphorus. Now days they wouldn't even do the demos and as kids we
were able to do them ourselves.

I remember my chemistry teacher dropping a small piece of sodium, perhaps
1/4" cube, onto his hand.

He was the only teacher I remember hearing swear and/or having flames
coming from his body.
--
Chris Cox, N0UK/G4JEC NIC Handle: CC345
UnitedHealth Technologies, MN013-N300, UNIX Solutions Group
6150 Trenton Lane North, Plymouth, MN 55440 1-763-744-1723
email: (work) (home)
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

On Wed, 2 Jun 2004 07:41:15 +0100, "Ian White, G3SEK"
wrote:

Roger Halstead wrote:
The guys who operated the heat exchangers used to
complain about that highly corrosive liquid... but they were talking
about the water.

De-ionized water wants ions and it'll take them from any available
metal. It's particularly corrosive with brass. We had a series of
induction heating units that used high power RF. The tubes and coils
were cooled with de ionized water. A brass hose barb would crumble in
your hand after only a years exposure to the di water.

Vicious stuff, that water.

The added problem with tube power amplifiers is that there's usually
high voltage around. DI water is a good insulator, but if there are
enough ions in solution the leakage current will cause electrolysis...
which dissolves more metal ions, and then the whole system goes rapidly
downhill.

I designed and built the monitoring system for the plant. to directly
measure "resistivity" in ohms per cubic centimeter. As far as I know,
they are still using the same monitor over 30 years later.

According to an article by N6CA (which was in the ARRL Handbooks for
some years) the secret is to monitor the DC leakage current, and change
the water when the current starts to creep upward. Modern plastic
components help a lot, by minimizing the total area of exposed metal.

You actually either measure or convert to ohms per cubic centimeter.
Typically the water is changed out over time, rather than letting the
resistivity drop and then change. They might dump a hundred gallons
a day, a week or what ever and replace with fresh.

Of course there was the time some one dumped a small salt shaker in
the drain. A spoon full of salt is enough to render many thousands of
gallons out of spec. Actually it shut down that part of the
operation.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com