megalomania
June 17th, 2003, 04:05 PM
FadeToBlackened
Frequent Poster
Posts: 201
From: Hell
Registered: MAR 2001
posted 05-18-2001 05:23 PM
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A couple days ago I made a sort of trial run with a chlorate cell (using very little NaCl). Last night i decided to make a bigger run, so i had a few hundred mL of electrolyte in a jar, with a carbon rod and nail for electrodes. I turned it on a took a shower.
About a half hour later when I came back into my room, I got a huge whiff of Chlorine gas. It wasnt very strong but you could definitely smell it. I put my fan in my window and slept in a different room.
Now I've electrolysed NaCl many times, but never smelled chlorine outside the mouth of the jar, so I have until now ignored warnings about the gas.
Also, when i was setting it up, i noticed when i cranked the voltage up to 12 (instead of 3) i got a slow stream of a white gas that looked kinda like cigarette smoke except it moved real slow. When I put my nose over this stuff it burned like ammonia. It was white so it wasnt Cl, was it maybe HCl?
FadeToBlackened
Frequent Poster
Posts: 201
From: Hell
Registered: MAR 2001
posted 05-19-2001 11:08 PM
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The reason I was wondering is because if it was maybe it could be used to make hydrochloric acid.
I tried it today, using quite a poor setup. It consisted of the electrolytic cell, a larger jar laying horizontally, and some saran wrap to direct the gas into the larger one (which had some water in it). The water was warm. I dont know if it should have been warm or cold but it was warm.
I let it run for a while, not a long time, and when i picked the big jar up, there were some white fumes coming out.
Then I poured a little acetone and a little H2O2 in there, as a test (probably better ways, but oh well). In a day or two I will post results if anything has happened.
If nothing has happened, I will put some work into making what would be a more efficient setup, because I'm pretty sure something like this would work.
CodeMason
Frequent Poster
Posts: 383
From: Your Nightmares
Registered: NOV 2000
posted 05-20-2001 06:30 AM
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Yes, it was most likely HCl, unless there were some unforseen impurities in the water/salt you used. Electrolysing NaCl is a good way to obtain elemental sodium. You first heat the NaCl up to its melting point, then electrolyse it. Cl2 will be liberated, and what's left is sodium metal.
FadeToBlackened
Frequent Poster
Posts: 201
From: Hell
Registered: MAR 2001
posted 05-20-2001 11:21 AM
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Overnight and no results. When I sniffed the cell it smelled more like chlorine and didnt burn (nose), so i dont think there was sufficient light to break up the H2 and Cl2 (its supposed to do that.)
Ill try again someday.
Frequent Poster
Posts: 201
From: Hell
Registered: MAR 2001
posted 05-18-2001 05:23 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A couple days ago I made a sort of trial run with a chlorate cell (using very little NaCl). Last night i decided to make a bigger run, so i had a few hundred mL of electrolyte in a jar, with a carbon rod and nail for electrodes. I turned it on a took a shower.
About a half hour later when I came back into my room, I got a huge whiff of Chlorine gas. It wasnt very strong but you could definitely smell it. I put my fan in my window and slept in a different room.
Now I've electrolysed NaCl many times, but never smelled chlorine outside the mouth of the jar, so I have until now ignored warnings about the gas.
Also, when i was setting it up, i noticed when i cranked the voltage up to 12 (instead of 3) i got a slow stream of a white gas that looked kinda like cigarette smoke except it moved real slow. When I put my nose over this stuff it burned like ammonia. It was white so it wasnt Cl, was it maybe HCl?
FadeToBlackened
Frequent Poster
Posts: 201
From: Hell
Registered: MAR 2001
posted 05-19-2001 11:08 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The reason I was wondering is because if it was maybe it could be used to make hydrochloric acid.
I tried it today, using quite a poor setup. It consisted of the electrolytic cell, a larger jar laying horizontally, and some saran wrap to direct the gas into the larger one (which had some water in it). The water was warm. I dont know if it should have been warm or cold but it was warm.
I let it run for a while, not a long time, and when i picked the big jar up, there were some white fumes coming out.
Then I poured a little acetone and a little H2O2 in there, as a test (probably better ways, but oh well). In a day or two I will post results if anything has happened.
If nothing has happened, I will put some work into making what would be a more efficient setup, because I'm pretty sure something like this would work.
CodeMason
Frequent Poster
Posts: 383
From: Your Nightmares
Registered: NOV 2000
posted 05-20-2001 06:30 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, it was most likely HCl, unless there were some unforseen impurities in the water/salt you used. Electrolysing NaCl is a good way to obtain elemental sodium. You first heat the NaCl up to its melting point, then electrolyse it. Cl2 will be liberated, and what's left is sodium metal.
FadeToBlackened
Frequent Poster
Posts: 201
From: Hell
Registered: MAR 2001
posted 05-20-2001 11:21 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overnight and no results. When I sniffed the cell it smelled more like chlorine and didnt burn (nose), so i dont think there was sufficient light to break up the H2 and Cl2 (its supposed to do that.)
Ill try again someday.