Could chlorine gas melt stainless steel?

Watching "I Survived" on bio today , There had been chlorine gas (spilled by a train wreck) The people said they smelled the horrible stuff. and called 911.

What was strange to me is this old man telling the story said " that the clocks , his watch , other items had stopped". I thought what,,,
Then the next thing he says is "they had a newer stainless steel fridge ,, the stainless steel in his kitchen had melted and ran onto the counters"

How would that have been possible ???

whats with the stopped electronics ?melted parts?

reply to post by hbarker


Not exactly melt. Chlorine is an incredible oxidizer. What happened was most likely very fast oxidation (rusting) of the materials in question.

reply to post by hbarker


If he smelled it, he is dead. How could he share this information? Or do you mean chlorine bleach? I don't think they transport chlorine gas on trains, do they?

Anyhow, you see that green cloud coming your way; run

reply to post by hbarker


at a concentration high enout to stop a watch - chlorine would kill you before the watch stopped

stainless steel would not "melt " it COULD if chorine concentrations were high enough - form ferric cloride fecl3 which reacts with water [ from the air ] to disolve - hardly melting - but again you would die before witnessing this

reply to post by hbarker


Please forgive my failing memory. Wasn't Chlorine used in WW1 as a bombing agent? It causes the body to pool fluid in the lungs with death being the final outcome.

It is also highly flammable - at least that is what my pool store told me.

Also, the pool store is not allowed to keep large quantities of Chlorine based product in the store due to it being a health hazard - carcinogen, being very flammable and a super-good corrosive. The pool store rents a locked trailer and keeps it parked in back of the store. That's where they keep all of their corrosive products.

I have a craftsman screw driver that I use to open the chlorine tab bucket. Within two years (seasons) that screwdriver has rusted beyond belief. Still strong, but I can clearly see significant the wear and tear on it. It is only used to open the bucket and nothing more. It is majorly rusted, flaking even, but not melted.

Chlorine is some very strong stuff. Just opening the bucket burns my eyes and hurts my nose. If it is very good at killing germs, it is probably just as good at killing humans.

-E2

Originally posted by Blaine91555
reply to post by hbarker

 

If he smelled it, he is dead. How could he share this information? Or do you mean chlorine bleach? I don't think they transport chlorine gas on trains, do they?

Anyhow, you see that green cloud coming your way; run

Now he didn't die and neither did his wife and other family members. I saw the same show, it's called "I Survived" for a reason. There was a train wreck by his house and the train had chlorine on it. They woke up to the smell, they couldnt breathe and were stuck there for hours til someone came to help them. They are lucky they made it.

The show even showed footage of the train wreck. He and his family couldnt get out because the wreck blocked the only road to and from their farm.

Scary.