Sodium Cyanide

Hello zasmine

Refer: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/EmergencyResponseCard_29750036.html

Kind Regards....

Most important safety consideration of all: NEVER let cyanide come into contact with acid. It will release deadly hydrogen cyanide gas. When in solution, always maintain a pH level of at least 11.0 for safety reasons.

Also: cyanide can be absorbed through the skin, with disastrous consequences for the victim, so always wear full PPE when handling cyanide.

The only safe method to limit personnel exposure is to automate your process and get operators out of the area. There is an entire industry devoted to the bulk handling of powders and pellets.

Two good website resources:

http://www.powderandbulk.com/

http://www.bulk-online.com/index.php

Otherwise you can email me application details and I will point you in the right direction. We work with most of the material handling equipment manufacturers.

Regards, Delmar Schmidt
Melfi Technologies Houston
sales@melfitechnologies.com
www.melfitechnologies.com

hopefully this type of information is used with proper intentions. These type of info. exchanges can always be dangerous to society and really shouldn't be discussed with someone unless you know them personally. The people who need to know about these things don't have to ask. Not pointing a finger but just expressing how i feel about unregulated experimentation.

Also mr. zasmine finishes thread by saying ....SHALOM !!!

I do not think i would offer any advice. Some people should be more paranoid!

"ONLY THE PARANOID SURVIVE ! "

Hi zasmine

Can you tell us what you are proposing to use it for?

It may well be that there is a far safer alternative. Just about anything is safer.

BAB

It is a key raw material in the manufacture of an API (active pharmaceutical ingredient),and no other chemistry route is unfortunately that active!

Wise idea to address all the concern before thanking the other contributors.

MISS zasmine is a chemical engineer.And for "talking about cyanide only with people you know "personally"",well,do you know that cyanides are a key raw material/intermediate in a lot of the drugs that we take,and talking about their usage,safety related issues only increases awareness,which never hurts!And if your government is effective,no misuse of cyanide can take place.All manufacturers,suppliers and buyers of cyanide need licenses.And unfortunately,if somebody really wants to find poison,there are a lot of household chemicals that can do the job,nobody woulds ask for help regarding help on commercial scales in cr4globalspec.com!

Back to the topic,I was thinking in terms of change of reaction rate in a heterogeneous reaction (NaCN insoluble in the solvent) if pellets are used in place of powder.And for charging of pellets into the reactor manhole,design of glove box compartments etc.Also,I believe most of the cyanide antidotes can't be administered by a person who isn't a qualified medical practitioner;yet these things are sold OTC?

"And for charging of pellets into the reactor manhole,design of glove box compartments etc."

Glove boxes require the operator to plant their nose against the process to see inside and perform the task. Very dangerous if there is the slightest compromise to the integrity of the system.

There are Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC's) to automate the transfer of material from a sealed container to the reactor. Many have simple butterfly valves on the bottom to control the flow, however we prefer the cleaner design of the Matcon Cone Valve IBC.

Additionally the Cone Valve works great for discharging poor-flowing powders so you may not have to revalidate your process to accommodate pelletized material.

Click http://www.matconibc.com/industryapimain.aspx for more information.

Sodium cyanide is mostly obtained as white crystalline powder by absorption of hydrogen cyanide in a solution of sodium hydroxide with subsequent vacuum evaporation. If you want to use sodium cyanide as pellets, you have to do an custom order, but is it possible the price will be higher, and the solubility will be less (less surface area). If that is OK for your application, then go ahead. Good luck.