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Disposal or containment of pickle liquor before the flood

Hi,
I am the plant engineer at an OEM that manufactures flow meters. We pickle some of our stainless steel parts in a mixture of hydrofluoric acid and nitric acid and I must say, that after all these years, we can no longer be sure of the relative concentrations. Our plant is downstream form a dam the Army Corps of Engineers says is now unsafe, and as they make repairs over the next few years, they say they WILL over flow the river thereby flooding the valley before they let the dam fail. They say we will be under 4 to 10 feet of water this winter, or maybe none at all. Our pickling tank is only about 20 gallons, but if we're forced out, we can't leave it, and it would be difficult to move when full. So I've been looking for options, we're not opposed to neutralizing the whole thing and starting over later, or information on how to safely repackage and transport, but I'm having a hard time finding any real data on neutralizing, or moving. It seems most companies don't move their pickling tanks on a regular basis.
Do you have any thoughts?

Paul Carlson
Plant engineer in stainless OEM - Kent WA USA
October 16, 2009

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Hi, Paul. I was once involved in a project where we built a four foot high concrete dike with special inflatable doors around a large plating plant because it was within the 100-year flood zone, but containment dikes don't sound applicable for the small size of this tank and the unknown flood depth.

The best approach would seem to be to find a drum pump, and a 55-gallon drum made of suitable plastic, and pump your pickling solution into it. Then you double rinse the tank, putting the rinsewater in another 55-gallon drum. Then you seal the drums and put them in a containment pan on the roof of the building. As long as you're prepared, this could easily be done in a hour if and when necessary.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
October 16, 2009

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Rather than a 55 gal drum, think about appropriate smaller plastic containers. Fairly good ones look like plastic jerry cans. 5 gal buckets with covers might work, but I would be gun shy of them as someone might use a low quality Burger King pickle bucket.
You can move them fairly easily and do not need any special permission. If you move them off site, you need a DOT certified hauler and a 2 time EPA permission form.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
October 19, 2009