Distillation of HNO3 with OTC products

[totenkov]

A few days ago I was trying to distill some more nitric with purified KNO3 stump remover.

Here is the pic:

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc6/totenkov/nitricacidstill.jpg

Nothing came over.The temp was held at 85C for over an hour and a half and absolutely no HNO3 was recovered. You can clearly see NO2 buildup in the flask, however nothing was distilled. I used the correct amount of reactants, taken from Jarrods post, used a water bath for the heat and didn't have any clumps of nitrate. The H2SO4 was drain opener at about a 93% concentration. This is the first time I have done it with drain opener and stump remover, and it clearly isn't working very well.

I know my setup is quite limited and doesn't have a vacuum but many don't have super advanced glassware (none of my glass is ground except for my organic chem set but the condenser got smashed :() The idea of this thread is so people who are really limited can find something that will work to make HNO3.

If you can spot a problem, let's here it! :)

[Enkidu]

It needs to be hotter. Your solution will boil at a higher temperature than pure nitric acid.

[Masonjar Chemist]

I agree with Enkidu, also what ratio of nitrate to acid did you use? In my first attempts at nitric I always had too little nitrate and yeilds were very poor.

[High Density]

Maybe you got a lot of reflux in the boiling flask, Try to isolate it, Or use a higher water bath.

Blowing dry air trough the flask will drive the HNO3 through the condenser, And reduce NOX evolution, This requires some more heating to compensate, And spills a little HNO3.

With this method you don’t even have to boil it, With roughly the same time.
No vacuum pump needed.

I have used this method for sulfuric acid & nitric 68% 1:1 And works great, Density 1.5+ slightly yellow NA.