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Darwin Awards
2014 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

peroxided

2014 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

After completing my bachelor I was happy to be able prove my resourcefulness entrepreneurs mentality. I contracted a job to provide a company with 1,5 kg sieved quarts sand at different grain sizes ranging from typical 10 micron up till 2000.

To clean the sand from any organic residues we typically use 1 molair peroxide and follow up with 1 molair hydrochloric acid to neutralize and lots of water. I used the company kitchen as a laboratory.

The burning of organic matter with peroxide turned out to be a rather time consuming process to produce the measly 1,5 kg. Quick calculation learned that with the available 18 glass chemical beakers it would take at least a week to complete the task and ordering extra beakers would take another week too. Luckily I found 22 extra glass bottles with screw lids thus enabling myself to scale up the process.

I filled the whole kitchen table with beakers and bottles. Before lunch about half of them filled with peroxide half of them filled with hydrochloric acid. I washed my hands in the stainless steal kitchen sink and went out for lunch and as a safety precaution closed the bottles just before I went out for lunch.

It was a great day and the sun was shining I decided to lunch on the balcony of out our canteen -adjacent to the kitchen- which by now was filled with the noisy company's workshop factory workers. As the canteen was quite boisterous I did not feel particularly responsible when I heard a large bang coming from the canteens direction.

The kitchen floor (first floor) was filled with a boiling layer of peroxide hydrochloric acid in a nearly perfect mix. The originally brown wooden kitchen tabletop was yellow and bend in a hollow shape with the edges bent upward by an approximate 50 cm. The stainless steel kitchen sinktop I was entirely oxidized into a white paper fabric by the hydrochloric acid that had sprayed the room.

I extinguished the chemical fire with the firehose and mopped the kitchen, now rendered useless, later. I have been hoarse for almost two weeks as a result of all the chlorine gasses inhaled in the clean up process. At an incredible coincidence no one was hurt.

The Netherlands Giesbeek

Submitted on 12/13/2014

Submitted by: claus
Reference: none: 1-9-1991

Copyright © 2014 DarwinAwards.com

Great? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Awful?
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Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
Thanks, Claus, but not being a chemist I'm not entirely sure what happened here. What caused the bang?


James said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
Well, it WAS your experiment, and your idea, so I'm going to guess that SOMETHING happened. Since you ARE the chemist, I'm going to presume you goofed! :-) Since it was somewhat amusing, I will keep it as a PA...though a more detailed write-up would greatly help!


Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
This is one of the cases where you must have known better, but haste overrode caution, am I correct? ;) I do agree with James that a better writeup would be much appreciated.


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