Welding ammonia piping with an argon backpurge 1

[ColonelSanders83]

Hello All,

I have suddnely found myself needing to weld a few sock-o-lets to a couple of ammonia lines. Apparently the holes have already been cut in the lines and I have been requested to evaluate the use of Argon as a backpurging gas in the pipe to perform the welding. Apperently there is a small risk there may still be a small amount of ammonia vapor present. Normally I would use nitrogen to purge out the system, but since they have plenty of Argon at site thats what they would like to use.

A google search on the subject came up dry, so I was wondering if any of the more experienced folks here could offer some guidence. Are there any interaction concerns with ammonia and argon? Am I going to regret allowing (or disallowing this) in the near future? I absolutley hate to make a decision with no information. Any help or guidence or useful referances on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

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[vpl]

Argon's a noble gas and doesn't interact with most substances. Wiki has some information about a compound of argon, hydrogen and florine, but it sounds like that was the result of a lab experiment.

Somewhere along the line, Wiki's turned into a reasonable reference (at least on some things):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argon#Characteristics

Patricia Lougheed

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[Latexman]

Argon is extremely stable. I would not expect any reaction issues with it.

NOAA has an excellent Chemical Reactivity Worksheet you can download and install. It might have Argon and Ammonia in it's database.

Good luck,
Latexman

 

[ColonelSanders83]

Latexman,

Thanks, that was just what i was looking for. Ammonia and Argon were present in the tables with no reactions expected between them.

Handy little program to add to my stash of cool stuff.

A question properly stated is a problem half solved.

Always remember, free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it!

http://www.ap-dynamics.ab.ca/