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Subject: [DCHAS-L] CHAS Workshops update
Date: Friday, March 12, 2021 at 10:43:52 AM
Author: rphifer**At_Symbol_Here**WCENVIRONMENTAL.COM 		Next by Date:
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Condensation of liquid oxygen in open Dewar flasks of liquid nitrogen
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2021 17:11:13 +0000
Author: TILAK CHANDRA

From: Heather Redmon <redmonh**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Condensation of liquid oxygen in open Dewar flasks of liquid nitrogen
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2021 07:58:04 -0800
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: CACfKGukEXyCr8dEM+nWbcHWc-MSQBGax_hRhvGOtsTFjtGGA8A**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com
In-Reply-To


I am not sure the LOX would displace the LIN to make an oxidizing mix. Unless you are using refrigeration the LIN will evaporate as it warms, so the O2 and other gases in air would not coalesce. Dewars usually work like fancy thermoses, and don't provide refrigeration.
The bigger hazard would be oxygen displacement in the room if it were not well ventilated I would think.

Thanks!

On Fri, Mar 12, 2021 at 7:26 AM Daniel Kuespert <0000057d3b6cd9b7-dmarc-request**At_Symbol_Here**lists.princeton.edu> wrote:
An interesting question occurred to me today: When you leave a Dewar flask of liquid nitrogen open to the atmosphere, such as when you're using it to cool the trap of a Schlenk apparatus, oxygen will condense in it since the boiling point of oxygen is 90 kelvins vs 77 K for LN. How fast this happens will depend on the air-exchange into the flask, so if it's covered loosely, presumably the dynamics will slow down. Eventually, though, the flask contains liquid air, not liquid nitrogen, which could become excessively exciting for someone who empties the flask by dumping it out somewhere near something combustible.

I've not seen any data, though, on how fast this actually happens. Has anyone ever seen data on this? If you have, please let me know. It would be useful to know how long one can really leave an open Dewar sitting around.

Regards,
Dan Kuespert

Laboratory Safety Advocate
Johns Hopkins University



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