Sunday, March 16, 2008

The Purple Menace strikes back.

A quick update, we’ll post videos and more info in a couple of days. We went out to FAR to work on the site and run a quick repeat of our decompoisition test. When we ran it a flxible stainless line from the  permangenate tank to the motor failed at the fitting spraying permangenate everywhere. We had gotten a bit lazy and did not remove the tools generator etc.. from the vicinity of the test stand. SO everything involved with the test is covered in fine purple goo. We only used 1 liter of permangenate ,but 1 liter covers a truely amazing amount of area. The leak was at about 300 PSI so we covered  everything in a 35 foot radius with purple goo.  I can’t find the reference, but somewhere I’ve seen a dilution ratio of 10000:1 specified for making the purple go away.I can personally vouch for that number. I can also vouch for the warning one of the Arocket chemists gave me that vitamin C solution is exothermic with concentrated permangenate. A Vitamin C and  soaked shop rag used to wipe down  permangnate splash will end up smoking.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I was there and can attest to the dilution factor. Be sure you are prepared for water egress (moats and destination pools) and spray on any unit that has any contact with permanganate. It wouldn't hurt to put a shield around permanganate plumbing so any leaks are somewhat confined. A SMALL price to pay. Also please do your alcohol exposure tests in the test area and not in your storage container. You won't regret it. :)

I am proud to support leading edge testing with materials and concurrent site usage.

Jerry Irvine