Australia's Science Forum

Hi all, it has been a while since I have posted anything on the site but I always check in to read what's going on with you all.
This time I have a question and that is; How do you dispose of Cyclohexene and Cyclohexane safely?
Thanks
Mother

mine goes into an organic waste bottle, and then I assume it will be collected.

Its that time of year isn't it???

Hi Mother
Yes put in a bottle and keep it until you have a chemical pick up ( maybe not in our lifetime )
What ever you do don't put it down the drain the smell is grose
Noona

I have organic waste bottles that they go in.. I sit these bottle in a fume cupboard with the lid open and they evaporate.. and any fumes go up the fan..

Our yr12 chem students are just doing prac with organics.
The note with it says :Disposal of waste:
"If students use only a few mLs of the hydrocarbons, set up in fume cupboard a 400ml beaker containing 100g of perlite ot kitty litter. Students should empty their t/tubes into beaker. Leave it to evaporate overnight in fume cupboard, then wrao up in paper and dispose in bin".

However, knowing our students, they use so much of it, that it is worth while collecting in waste bottle and leave it for the experts to dispose.

Lada

I do the same as sunray, leave in the fume hood to evapourate, but only if there are small amounts, otherwise it gets saved for collection.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
Mother

I like the idea of perlite or kitty litter as a method of evaporation and disposal. Was the waste disposal note a safety note associated with the prac notes or just something that the teacher thought up for the practical?

Lyn.

Lyn,
the suggestion to use perlite came from the safety notes with the experiment. I did it with class, using micro test tubes and only small amount of organics. By morning all evaporated, i wraped the residue and put in bin.

Lada

i feel sick from the prac - and i am in the next room with a breeze....

Ahh, but we have a super duper fume cupboard with suction to move an aeroplane. Best thing we did in science labs.
Organic smell is thing of a past, and by next day the whole lot is evaporated.Love it

Lada

Thanks guys! Very timely for me too! Did you know that cyclohexene has a shelf life of 6 months!?!

Kel,

If that's so, how come the many bottles we have still 'work'?

The again, maybe that gives me another good reason to dispose of the extra bottles.

Thanks!

You would be doing well to get through a 500mL bottle in 6 months, and an expensive prac if you need to buy a new bottle every year!

What is the shelf life for Hexene, Hexane and Cyclohexane?

Cheers
Ian

Yep I agree .... I just read it recently & I've had a bottle of cyclohexene for longer than that too!

I'll try & find it again...........

We have recently done this prac.

Both the Cyclohexane and Cyclohexene that was used came from LAST CENTURY

1988 and1990 respectively and they both worked fine. Even before CSIS a previous labbie has dated most of the bottles as they were purchased/requisitioned.

Wendy

Yes I think ours are probably older than me!
And that's a lot!
They still work though.
J

Just looked at the date on the cyclohexane.....1987!! And still works fine.

Hi All,

A better way is to put this into a fume cupboard in a stainless steel tray and allow it to evaporate on its own accord.

No further cost for disposal this way.

Cheers,

Robb.....

Does cyclohexane and/cyclohexene ever go off? I'm new to the job of a school labbie, but have industry lab experience, and hence get confused to why they do things differently. For example we have 6 mostly full 500ml bottles of each and then a large (unopened) 2.5 L bottle of cyclohexane!!!! As I know the prac is only done once a year I don't know why we have so much? Are most of the bottles off?