• MNByChoice@midwest.social
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    6 days ago

    The liquid, which the Palo Alto Fire Department has deemed to be a nonhazardous mixture of borax, lye (also called sodium hydroxide) and green dye, spilled out of the Tesla office at 1501 Page Mill Road onto Hanover Street.

    • Nougat@fedia.io
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      6 days ago

      “Storage of sodium hydroxide requires a City permit, which Tesla had not obtained.”

    • LostXOR@fedia.io
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      6 days ago

      How is lye nonhazardous? Can’t it cause serious chemical burns? Maybe it’s just in low enough concentration that that’s not a concern.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        You don’t want concentrated lye, but diluted lye is safe enough to make soap. My question, and I’m not the only one asking in this thread, is- is a mixture of borax and lye a good coolant for a supercomputer?

        I guess you could argue that the green is so they would recognize a coolant leak…

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            Ah, that makes more sense then.

            But lye as well?

            Edit: never mind, that discussion says also lye.

            • kindernacht@lemmy.world
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              5 days ago

              They use this mixture at my work as well. Flushing out large sub freezing cooling systems. We don’t dump it out on the street though.

              • mhague@lemmy.world
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                5 days ago

                If it’s anything like the places I work, they specifically tell you to be very careful about what you wash away.

        • MechanicalJester@lemm.ee
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          6 days ago

          The lye concentration used to make soap is rather nasty if it gets on your skin and you don’t deal with it immediately. Source: I’ve made a lot of soap from scratch.