P!
I think ammonia is the only thing to neutralize cyanide. Ammonia itself is a dangerous gas that can kill in seconds, so the solution can be as bad as the problem.
What a horrible situation of the residents. Chinese business and government doesn’t really care except for the fact they lose face and a token CEO might be executed.
Some 35 years ago, I was a graduate student in chemistry. One day we had a water leak right over the chemical stockroom. The chairman evacuated everybody from the building. This crazy old fellow, Dr. Cantrell, an organic chemistry professor, walked back into the building. He came out and announced that it did not smell like almonds so that it was safe to go in. It took me a while to realize what he had done, he went into the stockroom and took a deep breath trying to identify the presence of hydrogen cyanide. We had know he was crazy before this, but now we were positive!
Cyanide can be neutralized with sodium hydroxide or a combination of sodium hydroxide and sodium perchlorate (bleach). It is important to keep it alkaline to avoid liberating hydrogen cyanide gas. Simple NaOH works well, since it needs no catalyst. It is best to keep a good amount of sodium thiosulfate on hand in case there is anyone exposed to cyanide. Low level exposures can still be deadly, it just takes a while. Some low level exposure symptoms are mistaken as a case of the flu.
I have worked in some plants that use cyanide in their processes. This information is from safety training related to working with, around, and handling cyanide related chemicals.
How deadly would this cloud be?
Are we talking a little gas or will it generate gas-chamber levels?
Didn’t something similar happen in the Union Carbide spill in India back in ‘83?
BS.
Sodium cyanide, NaCN, is water-soluble solid.
It releases Hydrogen Cyanide, NCN, as a gas when exposed to an acid. That is what the gas chamber in California used. Dropped Sodium cyanide into a pail of hydrochloric acid which produced Hydrogen Cyanide, killing the occupants of the chamber.
A hydrogen cyanide concentration of 3500 ppm (about 3200 mg/m3) will kill a human in about 1 minute.