Does anyone blueline anymore?

[bhaugi]

Does anyone still use a blue-line machine (Ammonia/diazo process)?

If so, how do you dispose of your old ammonia? They are a dieing breed, Louisville is a fairly large city with a 1/2 dozen or so large format repro companies, and there is only 1 of them left that still have blue-line capability.

Thanks,

Bruce,
Louisville, KY

[mjfarrell]

Mix it with a little soap it makes a great window
chrome, and glass cleaner!

[bhaugi]

Michael,

Thanks for the reply, yes, it is very effective once diluted a little, however, 1 gallon would last me about 10 years. I have 1 gallon every 4-6 weeks to dispose of.

Bruce

[mjfarrell]

Bruce,

I wasn't making lite of your situation.
I did a brief search and discovered this about
our friend ammonia.

Synonyms: Anhydrous ammonia
CAS Number: 7664-41-7
DOT Numbers: UN1005 (anhydrous); UN2073 (solution); UN2672 (solution)
DOT Designation: Nonflammable gas

NFPA Hazard Rating:
Health--3
Flammability--1
Reactivity--0

*
Containers may explode in fire
*
Corrosive
*
Water reactive

Hazard Rating Key:
0=minimal; 1=slight; 2=moderate; 3=serious; 4=severe


and further down the page

Disposal Methods

Dilute with water, neutralize with hydrochloric acid and discharge to sewer. Recovery is an option to disposal which should be considered for paper manufacture, textile treating, fertilizer manufacture and chemical process wastes.

They: http://www.dhss.state.mo.us/hsees/ammonia.html
do not show the ratio of either water or acid to achieve
acceptable dilution strengths. I would imagine it to be as low as 2:1
however that is only a guess. They do suggest recovery, so the
greenest thing to do would be to discover if there are larger industrial users of
ammonia that would accept your contribution.

There are probably some state or local regulations as the ammonia content
of waste water discharge. Those should be your final guide.

[stusic]

I'd be careful about how you dispose of it and who knows that you possess anhydrous ammonia. Businesses here have been known to be broken into by people attempting to steal the ammonia to make crystal meth (it is used in the manufacture process). You may want to check with your local law enforcement agency; they may have some good ideas as to disposal. And for gods sake, don't give it away to anybody!

Hope this helps!

Phillip

[bhaugi]

Michael,

Thanks once again for your assistance. Dilution looks like a good option, but then OSHA probably has something to say about that process.

Bruce

[stusic]

After my last post, I saw that anhydrous ammonia is considered a argricultural fertilizer. Then I found this website:

http://kentucky.earth911.org/master.asp?s=lib&a=Water/StormWater/fertilizers.inc

This ought to help.

Phillip

[Grumpy]

The company that we buy our ammonia from takes it back for us. It use to be no charge but now I think that it is $1.00/gallon. You might ask your supplier.

[bhaugi]

In a very delayed reply, I found a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for aqua ammonia finally... here is a link.

http://www.michlin.com/msds.html

Bruce