[labnetwork] Anhydrous HCl after it escapes ...

[John Shott]

Labnetwork Community:

Sooner or later, it seems, anhydrous hydrogen chloride (or a number of 
equally corrosive materials) is going to escape.  At least that is our 
experience at the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility.  Despite our best 
efforts to use quality components, do proper leak checking, etc., it 
seems as if we end up with a leak either in a gas cabinet or in a tool 
near a mass flow controller.  At that point, anything near the site of 
the original leak has been covered with now moisture-laden hydrogen 
chloride ... which, I believe, is far more corrosive than the original 
anhydrous material.

For those of you who have encountered similar situations, how do you 
recover or what to you replace?  Do you have effective means of 
neutralizing those metal surfaces?  Do your replace VCR gaskets with 
thicker-than-normal or grooved "super gaskets"?  Do you replace the 
entire assembly?  Do you leak check, put back in service, and pray?

Thanks for sharing your experience and insights,

John