FAIL - Sulfuric Acid Vacuum Distillation

Can we put sodium hydroxide in the water to neutralise the gasses with your vacuuum pump system??

Jean Pierre Daviau

You might get a better vacuum by connecting two of your vacuum aspirators in series.

Bob Hayward

lol, did you respond to the wrong channel? Better scooch over there and rewrite your comment :)

NurdRage

Thanks!

NurdRage

i actually have a used high end vacuum pump here, but i want to install some filters and protections on it first. thanks for the offer though!

NurdRage

You could, but its awkward and really easy for it to fall off. also the heating is best at the bottom. if it's on the sides then when the acid goes below that level you get no effective heating.

NurdRage

Thanks man! its frustrating.

NurdRage

yeah it's a highly variable solution made in lots of different ways. The way i showed in the video is not the best, i just did it that way because it was more convenient. But yeah, adding the peroxide to the acid is usually the way to do it. What's most important thing is to always control the heating. Doesn't matter how you add it, if the heating goes out of control then it's game over.

NurdRage

I think i got the gist of it. Its certainly a good idea. I was planning something similar but using a highly insulating alumina foam i've been working on. hopefully i'll get around to it someday.

NurdRage

Absolutely incredible to watch. And amazing how it still grows at night while the sun is down.

Grant Thompson

Dr. Lithium, Just a note to say that I finally did get a e-mail notification of this video (and appears in my subscription feed too, albeit with a 2 day delay). Also, thanks for letting us know about the feedback feature in the just-released vlog which also appeared in my subscription feed in a timely fashion.

I just watched your H2SO4 video after you made a newer video telling me about it. If you can give me your shipping information I would be willing to send you a pump like this: <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/ZENY-Electric-Vacuum-Refrigerant-Conditioner/dp/B012CFTZII/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://smile.amazon.com/ZENY-Electric-Vacuum-Refrigerant-Conditioner/dp/B012CFTZII/</a> It is not a great vacuum pump by any measure, but it is one that you can keep running while you are doing something. You might need to make a video on why cold traps are important too.

Casey Kikendall

What is the reason you can't get away with wrapping a large flask in similar heating tape to what your home made mantle uses?

After you posted this, I went searching for this video on YouTube so I could like it and comment. I couldn't find it. I thought there might be some delay, so I waited and checked again today. Today I found your vlog post. I have done as you asked, I posted this feedback on the video: "There is something wrong with YouTube. I subscribe to this channel. This video was posted to the channel, but I cannot see it in the channel, and I did not receive a notification that it was posted. The only way I was able to find it was through a link in the viewer description of another video that the channel owner posted asking subscribers to check their channel to see if they could see it. Not only can I not see it, none of the other people I know who have checked for me can see it in the channel either. How are we supposed to rely on YouTube if we cannot trust that we will have access to the videos posted to our channel subscriptions?" I am also going to post on all my social media asking others to do the same. I hope it helps.

Michael Aichlmayr

I've always seen you should add hydrogen peroxide to the acid, not the other way around, because piranha with &gt;3:1 acid:peroxide is potentially explosive, especially in the presence of organics.

By the way, my first thought when I saw the posted fail video was, oh no, it imploded, but then I realized you would have put epic fail instead of just fail. :-)

Where can I post a pic for you to see? After watching your videos last year to make the low cost high temp heating mantel for distilling the hardware store drain cleaner I immediately realized the limitations of a smaller vessel and so here is what I did. I mixed plaster of Paris, water, and sand, which I had from a previous project. I poured this into a small flat bucked, covered my 1000ml RBF with plastic and pushed it into the center of the mixture until it set, which was not very long. I shaped the heating element and added copper wire to hold it together as you recommended. I ended up distilling in a 500ml RBF due to the obvious lack to room to fit the heating element around the 1000ml flask. I positioned the heating element around the 500ml flask and added sand to make things snug. I also wrapped everything with foil during the distillation. For the controller, I bought a plastic electrical box, light dimmer switch, electrical outlet and faceplate. I installed an unused computer power cord to supply the power. I took things very slow during the distillation to be on the safe side but everything worked without an issues. I was able to reach the desired temperature and obtain a decent amount of concentrated H2SO4. I have a pic of my setup but not sure where to post it.

👍😎

Michael Aichlmayr