Howdy,
Apologies in advance if this is the wrong place to post this.
I'm working on a machanical experiment that requires a dense, nontoxic
and reasonably inexpensive fluid. The melting point and price of
calcium chloride hexahydrate, appears to make it a tolerable
candidate. (I was brought to this material based on the knowledge that
salts have been broadly used for valve cooling in piston engines.)
Within the experiment we will be passing our selected fluid in mixture
with a (also preferably as inert as possible) gas through a
pressurized heat exchanger.
I'm not a chemist. My question stems from concerns for toxicity and
corrosion. I am looking to achieve a minimum of risk from exposure,
and a low corrosion rate in the design of the heat exchanger. A
pressure explosion is considered a possibility, and we are using
safety precautions. But from a chemistry standpoint I am concerned
about reactions causing toxicity levels significantly beyond those
experienced in a typical mechanical engineering lab. My questions
are:
1. First, is there something else out there that is liquid at around
30C that is significantly denser than water and more inert than
calcium chloride hexahydrate?
2. How hazerdous is calcium chloride hexahydrate? Does it do anything
nasty when combined with common metals? (copper, aluminum, iron) How
about water?
3. What gas should I use?
4. What materials should I use for the heat exchanger?
My current design is to use helium gas, calcium chloride hexahydrate
as a fluid, and an aluminum heat exchanger. Ultimately my question
boils down down to: is there anything chemistry related here that
would put me in the running for a darwin award?
Thanks in advance!
- posted 11 years ago