The Vespiary

The Hive => Chemicals & Equipment => Topic started by: Sleen on January 23, 2004, 11:24:00 AM

Title: Diethyl Ether Release in Fume Hood Study
Post by: Sleen on January 23, 2004, 11:24:00 AM
I heard of a situation where someone took 10 mL of Diethyl Ether - put a few mL of water in it and allowed it to evaporate in a fume hood.
Some sharp criticism was given by others as to doing this - as the flammability issues, etc. with ether.
While care needs to be taken, I think there is a stigma that even the smallest amount of ether being used in a fume hood can spontaneously combust - and I'm not talking about 5 year old ether or at 100 F or with a hot plate or anything.

To be on the safe side - it is always good to be cautious, however, to gain some more understanding of the issue the following article was found - makes one feel better about fume hoods.

http://www2.umdnj.edu/eohssweb/aiha/technical/25percentLEL.pdf (http://www2.umdnj.edu/eohssweb/aiha/technical/25percentLEL.pdf)