Phosphoric Acid Container Cleaning

[Crumm]

Any chemists on the site? I have some black 15 gallon poly drums that make sweet gas cans for the boat. I just found another one like the ones I have but it says Phosphoric Acid on the side of it. I washed it out with water and then with gasoline and it seems to be clean inside but I don't really want any Phosphoric Acid in my $12,000 boat engine so I thought I might check to see if any of you guys know about Phosphoric Acid and how to clean it out of a drum. Phosphoric Acid is used in Coca-Cola, dental cements, as a catalyst, in rustproofing metals, and in making phosphates, which are used in water softeners, fertilizers, and detergents. Of course the MSDS says "Do not wash out container and use it for other purposes. Containers of this material may be hazardous when empty since they retain product residues" but that is normal for all chemicals. The Solubility is Miscible in all proportions in water so I think water will wash it away?

 

[Zookie400]

water and baking soda will neutralize it, but i think the water you already washed it out with is just fine.

 

[JLDickmon]

especially after you swished a bunch of gas in there too..

 

[BJS]

what kind of plastic tell me the recycle number on the bottom or it may say HDPE or PE

Depending on what kind of plastic the acid may impregnate the plastic and slowly leach out over time, though it will be minimal and not really impact the pH of the fuel. making a baking soda & water will neutralize what will leach out provided you allow it to soak for a few days.

As a safety professional the hazards posed by using the container are:

incompatible plastic - gasoline may dissolve the plastic
non vented container - gas expands and volatilizes easy and needs to vent off excess pressure
DOT regulations - doubtful that you'll be checked but to transport it "in commerce" you have to use an approved DOT container or packaging and sadly until you use/destroy the definition of in commerce applies.

 

[94f450sd]

just to be extra cautious i think id still hit it with water and baking soda.

 

[Crumm]

Thanks for all the input. I thought it would be fine

what kind of plastic tell me the recycle number on the bottom or it may say HDPE or PE

Depending on what kind of plastic the acid may impregnate the plastic and slowly leach out over time, though it will be minimal and not really impact the pH of the fuel. making a baking soda & water will neutralize what will leach out provided you allow it to soak for a few days.

As a safety professional the hazards posed by using the container are:

incompatible plastic - gasoline may dissolve the plastic
non vented container - gas expands and volatilizes easy and needs to vent off excess pressure
DOT regulations - doubtful that you'll be checked but to transport it "in commerce" you have to use an approved DOT container or packaging and sadly until you use/destroy the definition of in commerce applies.

I will get the number off of it and let you know. I do know that gas won't dissolve it as I have stored gas for years in the exact same type of drum. They do swell up a little when the gas heats up since they are 100% sealed. As far as the law goes about 100% of the jet boats up here have poly drums full of gas in them during hunting season, it is a Alaska thing. Many guys going down the Yukon use 30 gallon or 55 gallon drums but I like the 15 gallon drums so we can unload them at camp. This year we took 4-15 gallon drums along with the 45 gallons in the boat tank and when we got back to the landing we were running on fumes, the extra 15 will be handy. I will dump in some baking soda/water and let it sit for a few weeks just to be sure.