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Silicon mastic and Hydrochloric Acid.

Silicon mastic and Hydrochloric Acid.

Silicon mastic and Hydrochloric Acid.

(OP)

 A Client of mine  used a general purpose Silicon mastic  
( bathroom mastic) as a gasket sealant for the manhole lid of a conc HCl tank. Does anyone have any experience of the chemical resistance of such mastics.  I know that sometimes the acid fumes  can be more damaging than the acid itself.  The tank is a butyle lined mild steel.  The lid did not seat correctly and  the fumes + rain water on the lid corrosion damage which took away most of the steel flange and much of the 1" dia stainless steel bolts.  
 I do not want to worry the Engineer needlessly but maybe another leak will run down the shell and split his tank in two!

RE: Silicon mastic and Hydrochloric Acid.

By concentrated HCL do you mean 35%?  HCl vapor pressure drops off very dramatically at slightly lower concentrations which really can affect your analysis.  Its been a while since I worked with HCl but I did have my share of tank problems.  I recall specifically that the vapor pressure effect had a major impact on the vent scrubber sizing to the point where we were evaluating using in-line dilution prior to the tank.

I agree with you about not worrying anyone needlessly but at the plant I worked at a concentrated hydrochloric acid tank rupture was the worst case scenario from a emergency planning point of view such that a catastrophic release would have required an evacuation of all the neighbors in a fairly large radius.

RE: Silicon mastic and Hydrochloric Acid.

According to Schweitzer's Corrosion Tables:
HCL dilute OK 80 deg. F
HCL 20%    OK 80 deg. F
HCL 35%    Unsatisactory
HCL 38%    Unsatisfactory
HCL 50%    Unsatisfactory
HCL Fumes  OK 80 deg. F

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