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Author Topic: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?  (Read 11895 times)

Offline nateo

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How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« on: August 19, 2012, 05:23:34 pm »
I had a 2N solution of KOH stored in a 2L plastic soda bottle. I went to use some today and the bottom the bottle had cracked and it leaked everywhere. I've heard you shouldn't store it in glass. Anyone have suggestions for how I should store it?
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Offline Kaiser

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Re: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2012, 06:44:44 pm »
I had a 2N solution of KOH stored in a 2L plastic soda bottle.

Maybe its telling you that you shouldn't store hazardous liquids in food bottles. :)

Try HDPE (number 2 plastic) bottles. The ones you get for vinegar for example. That's where I store caustic soda solutions.

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Offline nateo

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Re: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2012, 07:43:32 pm »
Yeah I have some empty 1-gallon vinegar jugs I could use. I read somewhere you should use PET bottles to store a KOH solution. I've read elsewhere that PET provides good chemical resistance, so I'm surprised it was an issue.
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Offline phillamb168

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Re: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2012, 01:43:59 am »
I learned everything about storing caustic compounds from Breaking Bad. HDPE = you can dissolve a body in it.
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Offline punatic

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Re: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2012, 02:05:12 am »
I use 8N KOH for titrating calcium hardness in water.  I buy it already made up (mixing an 8N KOH solution is a highly exothermic process).  The KOH reagent bottles are made of HDPE.

I also use the 8N KOH for controlling pH in fermenting mead and sugar washes.
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Offline kramerog

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Re: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« Reply #5 on: August 20, 2012, 01:11:03 pm »
Yeah I have some empty 1-gallon vinegar jugs I could use. I read somewhere you should use PET bottles to store a KOH solution. I've read elsewhere that PET provides good chemical resistance, so I'm surprised it was an issue.

This sounds like a case of a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.  PET is a condensation polymer so it is susceptible to attack from highly basic solutions.

Offline nateo

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Re: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« Reply #6 on: August 20, 2012, 02:00:10 pm »
I learned everything about storing caustic compounds from Breaking Bad. HDPE = you can dissolve a body in it.

Luckily, my experience with bases dissolving containers ended a lot better than it did for Jesse.
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Offline a10t2

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Re: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« Reply #7 on: August 20, 2012, 02:20:24 pm »
I learned everything about storing caustic compounds from Breaking Bad. HDPE = you can dissolve a body in it.

IIRC that was hydrofluoric acid. Caustic is what you'd use to *actually* dissolve a body - and as a bonus, it wouldn't have eaten through the bathtub!
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Offline nateo

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Re: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« Reply #8 on: August 20, 2012, 03:05:04 pm »
IIRC that was hydrofluoric acid. Caustic is what you'd use to *actually* dissolve a body - and as a bonus, it wouldn't have eaten through the bathtub!

Next you'll tell me Bryan Cranston isn't really a drug king-pin!
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Offline phillamb168

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Re: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« Reply #9 on: August 21, 2012, 03:11:03 am »
IIRC that was hydrofluoric acid. Caustic is what you'd use to *actually* dissolve a body - and as a bonus, it wouldn't have eaten through the bathtub!

Next you'll tell me Bryan Cranston isn't really a drug king-pin!

Shhhhhh! Spoilers! We're only on the 6th episode of season one...
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Offline nateo

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Re: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2012, 06:17:25 am »
Shhhhhh! Spoilers! We're only on the 6th episode of season one...

Oh man, I hate that! Sorry. I'm watching The Wire right now, and it's pretty hard to avoid spoilers for a show that's almost a decade old now. 
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Re: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« Reply #11 on: August 21, 2012, 07:32:42 am »
Shhhhhh! Spoilers! We're only on the 6th episode of season one...

Oh man, I hate that! Sorry. I'm watching The Wire right now, and it's pretty hard to avoid spoilers for a show that's almost a decade old now.

Omar's comin.

Offline nateo

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Re: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2012, 10:13:23 am »
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Offline phillamb168

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Re: How should I store my caustic potash (KOH) solution?
« Reply #13 on: August 23, 2012, 02:34:40 am »
Shhhhhh! Spoilers! We're only on the 6th episode of season one...

Oh man, I hate that! Sorry. I'm watching The Wire right now, and it's pretty hard to avoid spoilers for a show that's almost a decade old now.

Omar's comin.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/414fa4b226/the-wire-the-musical-with-michael-kenneth-williams
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