thunderfvck - 4-2-2004 at 14:48
Hello. New to these boards, realize that a thread like this initially could cause some anger. USE THE FUCKING SEARCH ENGINE, etc. But I've
looked! Google and this website, along with other online boards.
So, I had recently bought some H2SO4 as drain cleaner. The problem is the disgusting red color. I don't like this at all. I tried to eliminate
the color with some activated carbon but failed. My method was simply this, I added the activated carbon. heh, was I supposed to heat it or anything
of the sort? I let it sit for awhile and the red color simply would not leave. I put in quite a bit as well. So how can I go about removing this? Or
should I just try searching for a clearer product to use?
Worst case scenerio, I can't find any other clear alternatives (due to my extreme laziness), would this still be suitable to use for most
experiments? Considering of course the concentration is exceptional (96-98%) which I have yet to determine.
THanks for your time.
Al Koholic - 4-2-2004 at 21:12
You could probably use it as is if it is of a high concentration. Well, I suppose that statement depends on what you want to use it for...
Sure, if it's high conc. it will probably work for TNP, TNX, etc. You would not want to use it for things like neutralizing hydrazine solution
because the impurities could cause problems with more sensitive procedures.
To clear it up, I really don't know if this will work but I would try heating a bit of it to about 300C or so. If the red color is an organic
compound it will be hard pressed to avoid complete decimation. If it is inorganic ( I doubt it is), then who knows. Organic stuff could be reduced
to carbon and a number of other things...be prepared for bubbling/spattering just in case. If you can do this, you should be able to filter the stuff
through glass wool to remove some of the decomposition stuff but you'll most likely end up with some contaminant ions that will be hard to remove
but shouldn't pose much trouble. To be honest, you are better off concentrating battery electrolyte if you want really pure stuff....
BromicAcid - 4-2-2004 at 21:29
Basically I say the same thing as Al Koholic except that instead of using high temps you could add a small amount of an oxidizer and slowly raise the
temperature, in that enviorment many organic compounds would be hard pressed to survive, although some of those azo dyes..... Well, just work with it
in small amounts, I used to use phosphoric acid for cleaning stainless and it had a dye and a surfacant so it bubbled and such, worked fine for making
HBr.