How to properly dispose of sodium…or store it properly

Question

While performing an inventory of my school's chemical storage closet today, my fellow teacher and I found some sodium tucked away in the back corner of our flammables cabinet. One container appears to have leaked the oil the sodium was being stored in, and we aren't sure about the second container. We don't know how long it's been there, but neither of us is going to use it, and, honestly, we don't want it. How do we dispose of this? Can someone with a little more chemistry know-how point me in the right direction? Are we stuck with this?

Or...

In the event that the administration won't let us dispose of the sodium, can you tell me how to remedy the storage situation? We don't feel that there is an adequate amount of oil in the container for proper storage of the remaining sodium, and if we have to keep it I want to make sure it is being stored correctly.

Answer 1

If you handle sodium, the first thing you need is a way to extinguish it if it catches on fire. You should have a bucket of sand ready to use, and additionally a class D fire extinguisher, if available. I'm assuming you know this, but don't let the sodium come into contact with water.

You always want the sodium stored in an inert liquid, usually mineral oil is used for that. Organic solvents like n-hexane are also used for short time periods. You should refill the mineral oil immediately.

The usual way to neutralize sodium is to put small pieces in an organic solvent like n-hexane and slowly add either isopropyl alcohol or ethanol to it. Isopropyl alcohol reacts slower, and is therefore a bit safer. When all the sodium is dissolved, you can add water to make sure there is no elementary sodium left.

How dangerous this is depends a lot on the scale, it's easy to do if you are only getting rid of a bit of sodium you haven't used in your reaction. I have no experience with neutralizing large amounts of sodium, this method should still work but it might take a long time if you are careful as you'll have to do it in small batches.

To be honest, the fact that you asked this question here on the internet indicates to me that you should at least let someone more experienced supervise the procedure.