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Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:26:25 -0400
Reply-To: List Moderator <ecgrants**At_Symbol_Here**UVM.EDU>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: List Moderator <ecgrants**At_Symbol_Here**UVM.EDU>
Subject: 4 Re: [DCHAS-L] Picric acid
=0CFrom: Ken Simolo
Date: March 31, 2009 11:43:54 AM EDT (CA)
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Picric acid
When I was an undergraduate, a bottle of picric acid blew up in the
middle of the night in the stockroom. The top of the bottle blew up
(I assume crystals drying out at the lid) and the bottle next to it
broke. The bottle was not jarred, etc. but it also had not been used
for a few years. So I am not sure the risk is as minimal as some have
stated. Having said that, I have immersed picric acid bottles behind
a blast shield before opening them.
Ken
===
From: "Ellison, Mark"
Date: March 31, 2009 10:57:43 AM EDT (CA)
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Picric acid
>Lyle Phifer, Russ' father, taught me a technique for opening
containers of peroxide formers.
I'm sorry, but I must vigorously disagree with this technique. Our
first efforts must always be toward safety and this method misses, in
my opinion. No disrespect intended to Mr. Phifer. All of my dealings
with picric acid happened in abandoned labs with little or no on site
resources. Even then, we had a plan and made sure we limited ANY
exposure by using safe work practices.
Mark Ellison
"Plan Safety - Work Safely"
P Please consider the environment before printing this email
====
From: David Roberts
Date: March 31, 2009 10:59:42 AM EDT (CA)
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Picric acid
OK, get a vice, some superglue, a long string, and some boards. Take
your dangerously explosive thing, drive it out to the country (avoid
potholes) where there is nothing that will get blown up should
something go wrong (that's the rub - while I do have a vice and think
this might work - I don't want to blow up anything right next to my
organic stockroom or anywhere in our building to be quite honest).
Put the vice in the middle of a big cornfield (or something like
that). Glue the boards to the container of interest so that you can
then put the whole thing in a vice with no turning possible. Glue the
string to the cap - and follow the instructions below. Should work
just fine.
Sorry - couldn't resist. Didn't mean to sound crass, but it's Tuesday
and I'm a bit on edge today. No worries.
I personally hate pressure (and the sudden release of). As a result,
I avoid anything that may explode at all costs. I agree with all the
picric acid things thus far - we had some that was bone dry for many
years - called the bomb squad (I'm on the fire dept as well). Bomb
experts showed up who knew how to handle these things (so they claimed
- didn't show me their union papers though). They handled it properly
getting it out of the building. Threw it in the trunk of their car -
drove it to the police post, and shot some rounds at it to blow it up
(I think they may have surrounded it with some sort of explosive that
they had on hand. Surprised they made the 10 mile drive on our county
road system. In hindsight, I would have put it under water and gently
loosened the cap over a several day/week period. I would have felt
better - and it would have been much safer. Metal picrates are the
worry (biggest worry - not only worry), and so as long as the cap is
plastic, it should be OK to place under water over a long period,
loosening the cap slowly over time. Just put a brick or something on
it to keep it submerged initially.
Good luck
Dave
===
=0CFrom: "Ben Ruekberg"
Date: March 31, 2009 11:01:13 AM EDT (CA)
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Picric acid
Just a thought. Since the invention of crazy glue, gorilla glue and
similar products, opening a bottle from a distance might be
simplified. Assuming the bottle can be moved without danger, why not
glue it to an oversized piece of wood that can be held in the vise and
glue a yard stick to the cap. Then attach the string to the yard
stick, get far away and ever-so-gently slowly pull on the string. The
yard stick will provide better leverage than wrapping the string
around the cap and the wood will keep the vise from squeezing the
bottle.
Ben Ruekberg
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