Thionyl chloride

#HazMatIQ Chemical of the Month

[@mdavi15]

This seems like a great system to help people answer those on the fly questions about working with new materials. A few things I would point out: When judging weather or not your vapor will rise or fall it would be more correct to base your decision on the density of the gaseous form of the compound verse that of air. You may also get a picture of the way this material will permeate air from the vapor pressure of the liquid. In this example, since nitrogen (the primary constituent of air) and SOCl2 occupy roughly the same volume of space (ballpark at the molecular scale), then comparing the MW gives a fairly accurate idea of the gas phase density. An additional concern would be to check the liquid density, if your going to displace or do residual clean up of SOCl2 with water it is beneficial to know that any un-reacted (albeit small amounts for this reaction) reagent will sink, not float at the surface, this means the rate of reaction will be much higher, but also that excess heat will be more effectively absorbed into the aqueous medium. You will also significantly decrease the pH of your aqueous medium (through HCl production). A final note, using a temperature gun to diagnose the occurrence of a chemical reaction at distance is clever, however you should have an idea of weather or not your reaction will be exo or endo thermic. Here you can likely presume that the reaction is exothermic based on the spontaneity and rate with which it occurs at room temperature. Also, the physics behind the operating principles of IR based gun type thermometers do not play well with shiny metallic surfaces, so certain containers may give erroneous values.

[@thomasmcgovern1250]

Shouldn't be any questions about this one, every hazmat worker should know this name by heart. A fairly common reagent, and very dangerous. A large, spilled amount, of Thionyl Chloride? Gotta have a very good reason, to confront it at all. Hose it down, if you can, from a distance. On contact with water, it releases copious quantities of poisonous gasses. Flip a coin, to determine whether the risk is worth it. A building can be rebuilt, more easily than you can acquire new skin, or a new set of lungs. I would consider a respirator inadequate. Go for SCBA. Also, while not flammable itself, Thionyl Chloride, can cause flammable materials to ignite. Flammable materials like Aluminum, Iron, or Titanium.

[@RetroRebelsEdits]

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