Storing - How to store properly ether?

[Rush]

cant find detailed info anywhere:

since ether is extremely flammable,and there is a risk of explosion, how it can be stored safely ??

in an household cabinet its ok?

or should be a more ventilated place?

thanks

[ljfe]

I was wondering this too. Whenever SWIM makes starter fluid ether, the gas seems to expand constantly. Even if it's in a tight water bottle the smell will seep out. Once he put it in a glass container and it shattered. I'm really glad he had that bagged, because it would have spilled allover his room.
That was off-topic, so I'll try and answer your question. A cabinet should be fine. Just go by smell, and maybe bag the bottle.

[silenius]

Originally Posted by Rush

cant find detailed info anywhere

I did my last chemistry 12 years ago and therefore won't summarize/interpret/generalize the information found when googling for"ether storage" (without quotes).

for every chemical you can buy, you will find safety information.

[Rush]

yes, in fact i found infos on how to store it in a lab, but i have no lab storage equipment and was searching for advices to store it at home.

i found that it needs to be stored in an ice bath(and not in a refrigerator)... but its impossible to have an ice bath in a cabinet!

the thing that scares me is that you can smell ether even if its tightly closed in a bottle, inside a plastic bag, inside a metal box inside a cabinet. and you can smell it outside the cabinet!!

so somebody that has ether at home(not in a lab, ive found info on how to store in a lab) how does he stores it properly???

thx however 4 the replies

[Pondlife]

Diethyl Ether is very difficult to store due to it's high vapour pressure and it's tendency to dissolve many plastics. It's also a serious fire hazard.

The first thing to say is don't ever think of keeping it in the fridge or freezer. It's one of the first things people think about when they see their ether evaporating away, but it's a serious explosion hazard because the vapours will build up in the freezer and then be ignited by the light switch or thermostat spark. Ether's flash-point is much lower than the temperature of a freezer.

When I kept ether many years ago, I used to store it in a glass bottle with a ground glass stopper. This worked quite well, although in hot weather the stopper would occasionally lift off and then re-seat itself with a "plink" noise. I also used to keep some iron wire in the bottle to prevent peroxide formation, but I'm not sure if that was really necessary.

In the old days they used to store ether in iron cans.

I've not found any plastic bottle that will store ether without loss. HDPE seems about the best, but even that is not really good enough.

[trptamene]

Originally Posted by Rush

i found that it needs to be stored in an ice bath(and not in a refrigerator)... but its impossible to have an ice bath in a cabinet!

the thing that scares me is that you can smell ether even if its tightly closed in a bottle, inside a plastic bag, inside a metal box inside a cabinet. and you can smell it outside the cabinet!!

so somebody that has ether at home(not in a lab, ive found info on how to store in a lab) how does he stores it properly???

Et2O is not stored in long term ice baths. In the labs we have a "chemical solvent room" which houses large drums (20g) of common solvents used (acetone, methylene choride, hexanes, IPA, toluene, ethere and a few others). In addition less common solvents and a rich mixture of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons. This is equipped with a Halon brand fire safety feature (I dont really know the details on it).

Chemicals are stored in glass bottles approximately 4L and then kept in chemical cabinets (just metal cabinets that say "fire hazard"). This is essentially kept at room temperature and has proven safe enough to not change.

We also get bottles of anhydrous ether that comes like this:



After this has been opened it is only anhydrous for a short while unless one takes precautions, but after it has been used we commonly refill this with "wet ether" from stock and found these to work fine.

The bottle is lightweight but durable and I believe it is engineered to spread any force over a larger surface area such that it can withstand more pressures safely. The cap is also somewhat unique and seems to be made to withstand higher pressures.

Originally Posted by Pondlife

The first thing to say is don't ever think of keeping it in the fridge or freezer. It's one of the first things people think about when they see their ether evaporating away, but it's a serious explosion hazard because the vapours will build up in the freezer and then be ignited by the light switch or thermostat spark. Ether's flash-point is much lower than the temperature of a freezer.

When I kept ether many years ago, I used to store it in a glass bottle with a ground glass stopper. This worked quite well, although in hot weather the stopper would occasionally lift off and then re-seat itself with a "plink" noise. I also used to keep some iron wire in the bottle to prevent peroxide formation, but I'm not sure if that was really necessary.

Glass bottles are a nice way to store most chemicals. With larger amounts this can be of concern as it is a rather "high energy situation" in a glass container, but hopefully people aren't storing several liters of ether either.

[Codehead]

How SWIY manages to store ether? When you pop, you can't stop
SWIM means that theres never enough ether around

[Panthers007]

To paraphrase Pondlife, put some reducing agent(iron wire) in the container before storage. I suggest a pinch of ferrous sulfate to prevent peroxide formation. Peroxides that form when ether partially polymerizes are extremely unstable and explosively detonate with just a light touch - such as pressing the cap back on the bottle/jar.

Diethyl Ether(the common ether that was formerly used as an anesthetic) is well known for this. Diisopropyl Ether is considered the most dangerous in this regard.

Also remember that ether vapor is heavier than air. Hence it tends to collect in low area like sinks, wastebaskets, floor-drains. Be vigilant or end up dancing in the ionosphere.

[piuiher]

curiosity? How long does it take to form peroxides when stored in a bottle?

[Panthers007]

That depends entirely on the storage conditions. Anhydrous diethylether, by far the worst offender this side of diisopropylether, can do this trick in a day or less. So get out your ferrous sulfate, kiddies - Daddy get very angry if you blow up his house.

[sneak2012]

Ether shits me up storing it. Dodgy shit.

[davestate]

It has a tendency to "creep" as well, that is, it spreads out very well. If using it at one end of a lab bench, it can creep across the bench, and it there is an open flame, ignite. In the lab SWIM is in SWIMs seen it stored in a negative pressure fume cupboard in large heavy glassbottles with a thick plastic outer covering