Nitric acid (NHO3) is widely used in the manufacture of explosives like gun cotton nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. It is also used in the manufacture of solar panels, sulfuric acid and picric acid. Nitric acid can be made from sulfuric acid and potassium nitrate as well as sodium nitrate or most other nitrates. I will show you how to make it out of sulfuric acid and potassium nitrate.
Caution: What ever nitrate you use make sure there is no sodium chloride in it because it will make Cl gas rune your batch and kill any one who breathes it. Do not use meat preservatives unless the sodium chloride has been removed "I learned it the hard way".
The distiller is made up of a large Pyrex vessel with a opining on the side. The Pyrex vessel is placed on top of a heat source and once heated the nitric acid vapors run out the side into a condenser and into a smaller Pyrex container with two openings called a receiver. The excess acid vapors leave the container and go into two more similar containers or receivers, which have a small amount of water in the bottom. The acid that is first produced contains small amounts of hydrochloric acid. In order to avoid the hydrochloric acid you can discard the first 5-10 minutes of output or you can remove the hydrochloric by leaving the lid off of you jar for a while and cooling the jar to less than 80ºC to avoid loosing any nitric. The water in the bottom of the last two receivers is just to help condense the escaping nitric acid vapors.
Note: The escaping vapors contain small amounts of hydrogen and should be kept away from open flames.
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Now that you have the necessary equipment and you have checked my math, put 30 kilograms of Potassium nitrate in the large vessel and slowly add 29 kilograms (15.76 liters) of Sulfuric acid to the (KNO3). If you don’t have (KNO3) you can use 17 kilograms of Sodium nitrate and 14.5 kilograms (7.88 liters) of Sulfuric acid.
Next you will set the hot plate under the large vessel between 80º and 90º C . Make sure that there are no open flames in the area especially around the hose leading outside. You may want to place the end of the hose in a box of Sodium bicarbonate to neutralize any escaping acids. As long as you discarded the first 10 minutes of out put; the first small vessel or receiver should contain almost pure nitric acid and the others will contain diluted nitric acid.
Caution: Nitric acid is nasty stuff. You should wear rubber gloves and goggles whenever you are playing with strong acids or strong basses. Avoid contact with skin and if you get Nitric acid or any other strong acid on you; pour a solution of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water on the effected area and then run cold water over it for at least 10 minutes. If you get a strong base on you then pore vinegar on the affected area and rinse with water.