Container for mercury

[geoff]

Would it make sense to include a sump in one corner

[geoff]

In message , geoff writes

And something that actively absorbs mercury

You don't want it sloshing about, you want containment

[Matty F]

Yes it would. And if the whole tray sloped towards the sump that would be an advantage. That's a lot more work to do, unless the present floor is not level.

[Matty F]

So, back to a big painted steel tray under each rectifier, which is what I originally thought of. A flat funnel shape draining into a bottle big enough to hold all the mercury. And a small brick wall around the whole area. Which is inside a sealed room with UV resistant windows.

[Stephen]

Sorry to be so nosey, where are the trams? I remember seeing a film about the trams in the Isle of Man using mercury rectifiers like the one in the photo linked in an earlier post. Does Matty live there? IIRC there was a very small earthquake in Blackpool recently but surely not enough to worry about?

Thanks, Stephen.

[Clive George]

Check Matty's posting address :-)

(there are a few more earthquakes there than over here)

[Invisible Man]

I haven't got time to google the dangers of mercury other than to know that it is now considered more dangerous than it was when we flicked balls of it across the school chemistry labs in the 1960s.

I handled liability claims for many years including asbestosis, mesothelioma, byssinosis, silicosis, asthma caused or aggravated by ice blasting of prawns and isocyanate paints, bladder cancer, secondary tobacco smoke problems and lots more horrible industrial problems. I do not recall however ever seeing anything blamed on mercury.

[geoff]

A bad horoscope?

[Lobster]

What on EARTH is this for? You seem to be deliberately avoiding letting on...

David

[Graham.]

writes

is now considered more dangerous than it was when

byssinosis, silicosis, asthma caused or aggravated

tobacco smoke problems and lots more horrible

Those run on bullshit, not mercury.

My dad was a medical rep in the 60s and used to carry a small bottle of Hg in his briefcase to top up the doctors "sphyg" as a free service.

[dennis]

Make the tray deep enough to flood with water. In a fire or similar you can stop the mercury being burnt by flooding it and having the mercury under the water.

[Graham.]

My sister once told me the following story. She taught English at an exclusive girls school in London. Whilst having some renovation work done the builders discovered a forgotten doorway that lead off a classroom that once had been a science lab Inside, there were some beakers with a substantial amount of material partially covered in an oily liquid. Fortunately, someone had the presence of mind to call the fire brigade at this point.

I'm sure you can guess what the substance was.

[Graham.]

bottles. (old Doctors Surgery - closed for years)

Probably used to top up any lost Hg in the sphygmomanometer

[stephen.hull]

which was built in the thirties, something to do with powering the workshop IIRC, but can't be sure as memory is vague, but do remember getting the key off the electricians at the time to view what we called Frankenstiens room which held the mercury power converter thingy.

Stephen.

[Steve Firth]

Ah yes, back in the days when I did work with mercury there were some special pads that soaked it up. No idea what they were though.

[Derek G.]

There are scores of mercury cleanup kits on Google.

In default thereof Flowers of Sulphur or powdered zinc will immobilise mercury. We kept them available in case a mercury vapour lamp got broken inside an instrument.

Derek G

[Matty F]

This is just a hypothetical question in case I ever get asked to solve a problem like this. Which I probably won't be. It's also provided enertainment for the rest of you.

Would you like to see photos of the finished job?

[Nick Leverton]

Of course. Especially if the pics include a 10m2 lake of mercury ...

Trying to remember if I've ever seen an Hg rectifier in action. Did the Science Museum ever have one ? British Railways used them for a while, even on AC trains before solid state rectifiers became practicable, but they had an unfortunate tendency to explode ...

Nico

[Archie]

The also used to be used in cinemas to drive the projector arc lamps. There are some videos on utube showing them in action.

Archie

[Frank Erskine]

BT (or rather the GPO) used to use them extensively to produce 50 volts DC at rather a lot of amperes for telephone exchanges. ISTR that they were enclosed in a metal cage through which you could peer to see a wonderful display :-)