Spill sulfuric acid

What should you do if you spill sulfuric acid on the countertop ... 

Clearly, great strides have been made since Mautner s sardonic remark in 1967 [2] Enzyme chemists, once known as people, who if they spill sulfuric acid on a table will call it tablease and feel that the matter has been explained can now consider the interaction of some enzymes with their substrates in terms of clearly defined molecules interacting in a fashion to be understood in terms of organic reaction mechanisms . 

Write an equation that explains what will happen if a scientist working in the laboratory spills sulfuric acid on her nylon 66 hose. 

The first application of hydrogen as a fuel was starting in the late 18th century when it was tried to utilize the physical property of low density for flying balloons. The Frenchman Charles realized in 1783 the first liftoff of an H2 balloon ( Charliere ) filled with 40 m of H2 which he produced by spilling sulfuric acid onto iron. The balloon traveled a distance of 25 km in a height of up to about 1 km. 

The reaction of the spilled sulfuric acid with sodium hydroxide would produce sodium sulfate, Na2S04, and... 

According to a study to determine the minimum number of hazardous chemicals most frequently spilled, sulfuric acid is sixth on the list, with the highest supply volume (Fingas et al 1991). It also has one of the highest numbers of spills. The priority list was developed by a simple ranking of (1) reported spill frequency (2) supply volumes (3) historical spUl volumes and (4) toxicities. Table 35.1 shows how sulfuric acid ranks in Environment Canada s priority listing of hazardous chemicals. 

Concentrated sulfuric acid, ethanoic acid, and butanoic acid are all extremely corrosive. Wear goggles, gloves, and an apron while performing this investigation. Treat the acids with extreme care. If you spill any acid on your skin, wash it with plenty of cold water and notify your teacher. 

Handle the sulfuric acid solution with care. It is corrosive. Wipe up any spills with copious amounts of water, and inform your teacher. 

Nitric acid is corrosive. Also, note that the CUSO4 solution contains sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid. Wash any spills on your skin with plenty of cold water. Inform your teacher immediately. 

This step is essential in the manufacture of detergent active ingredients as it converts the sulfonic acids or sulfuric acid esters (products produced by processes I-M) into neutral surfactants. It is a potential source of some oil and grease, but occasional leaks and spills around the pump and valves are the only expected source of wastewater contamination. A process flow diagram is shown in Figure 14. 

The sulfuric acid plant has boiler blowdown and cooling tower blowdown waste streams, which are uncontaminated. However, accidental spills of acid can and do occur, and when they do, the spills contaminate the blowdown streams. Therefore, neutralization facilities should be supplied for the blowdown waste streams (Table 15), which involves the installation of a reliable pH or conductivity continuous-monitoring unit on the plant effluent stream. The second part of the system is a retaining area through which non-contaminated effluent normally flows. The detection and alarm system, when activated, causes a plant shutdown that allows location of the failure and initiation of necessary repairs. Such a system, therefore, provides the continuous protection of natural drainage waters, as well as the means to correct a process disruption. 

Note 1 Dutton (Ref 58, pp 119—20) said that Schonbein discovered NC by accident. He wiped nitric-sulfuric acid spilled in the kitchen with his wife s cotton apron. Then he rinsed the apron with water, hung it to dry over a hot stove and then he heard a loud expln. He repeated the nitration using another apron, which he rinsed and dried more carefully than the first one. 

Procedure Weigh a 10,00-g sample on a tared 4 watch glass and brush up all spilled crysts immediately, because they are very poisonous. Transfer the sample to a 4Q0 m beaker contg ca 150 ml distd w neutral to phpht and stir until completely dissolved. Titrate rapidly to colorless end-print with 0.1N sulfuric acid. Avoid overrunning the end point, which causes evoln of the very poisonous gas HNs... 

Bottles of HC104 should not be stored on wooden shelves, because acid spilled on wood can form explosive cellulose perchlorate esters. Perchloric acid also should not be stored near organic reagents or reducing agents. A reviewer of this book once wrote, I have seen someone substitute perchloric acid for sulfuric acid in a Jones reductor experiment with spectacular results—no explosion but the tube melted ... 

In 1845, as vulcanized rubber was becoming popular, the Swiss chemistry professor Christian Schobein wiped up a spilled mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids with a cotton rag that he then hung up to dry. Within a few minutes, the rag burst into flames and then vanished, leaving only a tiny bit of ash. Schobein had discovered nitrocellulose, in which most of the hydroxyl groups in cellulose are... 

A railroad tank car derails and spills 36 tons of concentrated sulfuric acid. The acid is 98.0 mass % H2SO4 and has a density of 1.836 g/mL. 

Wear nitrile rubber gloves, laboratory coat, and eye protection. Avoid breathing dust. Cover spill with a 1 1 1 mixture by weight of sodium carbonate or calcium carbonate, clay cat litter (bentonite), and sand. Scoop mixture into a container of water. Add 3 M sulfuric acid (prepared by cautiously adding 10 mL of concentrated acid to 50 mL of cold water) to neutralize the solution, and then add a further 20 mL for each 1 g of dichromate (to give a pH of 1). While stirring, add sodium thiosulfate crystals until the solution becomes blue colored and cloudy (approximately 10 g/g dichromate). Slowly and cautiously neutralize the solution with sodium carbonate (approximately 3.2 g/mL of 3 M... 

Wear protective gloves and clothing, goggles, and breathing apparatus if necessary. Turn off all ventilation and isolate spill area. Add enough dimethylformamide to completely wet the contaminated surface, and then pour over the area an excess of freshly prepared solution containing 4.7 g of potassium permanganate in 100 mL of 3 M sulfuric acid (17 mL of concentrated sulfuric acid slowly added to 83 mL of cold water). Allow to react for at least 1 hour. Cover the residual solution with a 1 1 1 of soda ash, clay cat litter... 

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