NurdRage - 2020-08-01
In this video we Make Nitric Acid from Sodium Bisulfate and Sodium Nitrate. I actually try a few methods like dissolving them in water first and varying the amount of reagents. Overall the best method i found was to thoroughly mix 43g of sodium nitrate with 150g of sodium bisulfate and then directly distill off the nitric acid. Yield was about 95% nitric acid at 75% concentration. To remove unsightly dissolved nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen peroxide, ammonia or urea may be added in small portions to react it away. Related videos: making sulfuric acid by the copper chloride process: https://youtu.be/l2AkVYxDSKc Old video on making nitric acid (which sucks): https://youtu.be/2yE7v4wkuZU Donate to NurdRage! Through Patreon (preferred): https://www.patreon.com/NurdRage Through Youtube Memberships: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIgKGGJkt1MrNmhq3vRibYA/join Through Bitcoin: 1NurdRAge7PNR4ULrbrpcYvc9RC4LDp9pS Glassware generously provided by http://www.alchemylabsupply.com/ Use the discount code "nurdrage" for a 5% discount. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NurdRage Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/NurdRage/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nurdrageyoutube/
NurdRage always uses a PPPS (Positive Pressure Personnel Suit) driven by a tank of SF6 in every video as you can hear, so NurdRage is always safe and sound during every experiment.
Thanks for lighting up our day, @NurdRage
You've been missed.
Caution, sulfur hexafluoride is a super greenhouse gas.
I might do a couple more videos on nitric acid like completely acid-free methods to make it and maybe redo the sulfuric acid version since my original video from ten years ago sucks compared to today's standards. My electrochemistry work has been slow since some of the chemicals are taking too long to get here.
Make more videos! Your fans miss your "face."
@Uxleumas Vomiting regularly into a bottle and then distill the liquids maybe? This could be useful if you are on a lonely island...
Please please remake the sulfuric acid vid ^ ^
Hey where and how can I get NaNO3
They took down your video.
Hey man, good to have you back!
Love the series where you tackle synthetis of essential lab ingredients, endlessly useful.
Never seen anyone take on Hydrogen Proxide, industrial method looks super complicated. Is there a method to actually make some instead of dealing with low quality and contaminated "over the shelf" stuff?
OTC stuff should all be USP. So it shouldn't be contaminated.
OTC usually has inhibitors to stop the peroxide from degrading, but every brand is different.
There needs to be an indexed database of all these reactions. Like a wikipepdia of sorts. So you can just keep a copy of it and any time you need a chemical, find it by name, or by common uses, and it'll give you list of source ingredients and steps.
Well, there’s the ScienceMadness Wiki. Though maybe NurdRage could make his own wiki.
Well, there is http://www.orgsyn.org/
@Earl of Destruction just organic tho and not indexed
Its so nice to hear that scary voice in these troubling times ❤❤I've missed u
Me too!
( ͡ʘ ͜ʖ ͡ʘ)
👁👄👁
I just turned 18, have been following your experiments since I was 12. Hadn't I found your channel I'd never understand chemistry and grow an interest for it, your videos are the reason why I'm still studying chem.
Would definitely be interesting to test the percentage yield against the molar excess of the bisulphate. Really awesome result, NurdRage! :)
Love the alternative methods. I'm looking forward to your follow up video. Glad to see you're back & Thank you for your ongoing efforts.
This is awesome! I was going to make some nitric acid again soon and I think I’ll try this because it’ll save my valuable concentrated sulfuric acid. Thanks a lot!
I didn't get the notification :{ I must've unclicked the bell.
I always love the way you explain and narrate.
I think the p-Chloro-toluene purification was super interesting.
Especially the chlorination of the aromatic ring.
always easy to digest for the fans.
That was really cool comparing the runs.
I've always used draincleaner and KNO3.
Very cool, I've been looking into other ways of making it too. I got lucky and obtained 4 gallons of 93% sulfuric acid from a hardware store for $100. I didn't want 4 gallons though, that was the minimum order.
What about adding "trace" of water to the "dry" process? Can the high temperature be lowered without excessively lowering the acid concentration?
Thank you, my friend, for this valuable video..... I appreciate your successful attempt to prepare nitric acid in a cheap and efficient way.... Thank you very much.
I'm curious if doing the distillations under vacuum would help any. Perhaps, lower temperatures could be used, leading to less decomposition.
He is back , this is worth celebrating
Dear NR thanks o lot for your useful videos we learn chemistry simple but plz if possible describe in detail the reactions mechanism as in some reactions na replaced by H and in the other vice versa.thanks
Another way to remove the NO2 and create perfectly clear nitric acid is to use an aquarium air pump or something similar. Just let it blow air into the flask for an hour and the acid is clear. If you have a multi-neck flask you can even do this during the distillation. If you really care about the purity you can first clean the air flow with some NaOH (to remove CO2, etc..) and dry it with CaCl2.
very cool
Can you use Potassium Nitrate in this experiment? Thank you for making these videos, they are so informative!
Nurdrage...could you theoretically lead the exhaust of Diesel cars through a cooled water tank to obtain nitric acid and nitrous acid "on the fly" in desirable quantities? In the aftereffect you could reduce emissions of these gases and would not need urea additives.
I'm afraid that's not possible. Do not be sad: nitrogen oxides do not pollute the environment for a long time
It’s weird. I’m somehow still in the ”Nurdrage has not posted in months” mindset despite you having posted quite a decent amount of videos lately. When I saw this, I was like:”Holy moly, is Nurdrage finally back?!”, then I remembered this is your 3rd video in a month :D Anyway, great video! Thank you for sharing and have a nice day!
Hi, would it help with the yield of HNO3 using the wet method if I reflux the solution for about an hour or more? Also if anyone knows a method of separating Sodium Sulphate and Sodium Bisulfate, please let me know, thanks!
Interesting choice of chemicals. As in my place sulfuric acid is sold in the supermarket next to the socks and soap LOL along with air fresheners for cars. it is known as an electrolyte for car batteries
and I never saw this "Sodium Bisulfate" anywhere in existence.
You mention the boiling point being 120°C -- the boiling point for the azeotrope is 120.5 (according to my textbook at least), but for pure nitric, it's a mere 83 and some change. For the dry method, could you not then ramp the temperature down as distillate comes over? This should decrease degradation of the acid to NOx and thus increase yield. (Perhaps not by a lot, but at 95% as achieved in your excess bisulfate run, a little more could go a long way ;)
On an unrelated note, has anyone played around with different ratios of NaNO3 and NaHSO4 to find the sweet spot for maximizing yield or producing the most concentrated product? The 43:150 ratio (by mass) clearly beats the 43:75, but I bet there's some optimization to be done!
but the bisulfate monohydrate releases water when heated
YES YES YES! So glad to see you back! You make chemistry interesting!
Sulfuric acid drain cleaner is pretty easy to get. But it has anti corrosion compounds, which are organic compounds that you can remove with a little peroxide.
So good to see another of your videos NR !
You are an internet legend !
Dear Sir, Can you make iron oxide along with ammonium chloride which dissolves completely in water?
So, say you're dissolving silver. Could you add the hydrogen peroxide to assist the reaction? Or, capture the escaping NO2 with hydrogen peroxide to form NO3?
My go-2 HNO3 prep 4 yrs has been acidification of a nitr8 salt. Been curious bout the "dry" rxn 4ever tho & tried 4 1st time yesterday. However, I had major issues.
I have anhydrous NaHSO4 so I added water, but still had excessive foaming. I even filled a 100ml anti-climb reservoir I retroactively installed in my dist setup after foam climbed nearly in2 my still head. Then, the amount of dissolved salt was too gr8 2 boil off my acid sans decomp; all in all, I yielded ~1ml weak acid.🤣😅
I cooled my rxn mix & vac filtered yesterday & I'll try distillation again 2day w/o heavy salt presence.
Idk how my protocol differed from what u demoed here, but u didn't have ne of the probs I encountered. U have idea y I got soo much foam & virtually no distill8? I mean, if I used NH4NO3 I'd expect foam, but I used KNO3. 🤔
Ur advice would b appreciated here...🙂
Fig fan nurdrage i got 19 ml of yeild from the first method
My density of nitric acid was 1.32gm/cm3
Again big fan nurdrage following u from more than 10 year's
U gave me inspiration to become a chemist and a chemistry lover love u nurdrage
Wow! I'm from the EU and we require a licence for explosive and poisonous precursors (I just got email confirmation I was granted my licence, after 37 WORKING DAYS waiting for a reply, with tip top paperwork), this includes Nitric Acid at concentrations above 3%. Can't believe you can make it with just NaHSO4 and NaNO3 to such high concentrations and with such high yields! almost defeats the purpose of having a licence!
Great video and explanation, might try it myself!
On further research, NaNO3 is also a restricted substance in the UK and not easy to purchase, while you can buy it anywhere in mainland Europe no problem... fml
Really? Here in Sweden you find sodium nitrate in the herbs/spice section. And yes, it's pretty interesting that making concentrated nitric acid so easily.
Nile Red and Nurdrage upload on the same day. Holy shit
Lol, i already commented this on nikes channel. Now if we can wake doug up from the dead....
This is a great day for Canada and therefore the world.
NR is way better than NR though
The internet will overload and explode--unless we can get it into an ice bath under the fume hood in time
@Muzik Bike i think i like NR more than NR though, their presentation is just more accessible imo
Very nice! I like the video.
I have a liter of conc. Sulfuric acid which I do rarely need but I can not get any nitrate salts...
Can you give an example by weight of how much water you have to add to the Sodium Bisulfate to make the monohydrate form?
So if anhydrous sodium bisulphate was used instead, this method could theoretically produce fuming nitric acid? After all, that's still less temperature than what's required to distill sulphuric acid.
Does the excess sodium bisulfate in the dry method decompose into SO3?
If so, there would be some sulfuric acid in the mix.
Thank you! The wet method is horse browns and now maybe people will stop intentionally making dilute nitric acid only to have to distill it 2 or 3 times to make it useful.
It is bizarre that you live in a land where ammonium nitrate grows on trees but sulfuric acid is a magical unicorn. I can buy a gallon of 95 percent sulfuric acid for $20 at any hardware store but I can't get any nitrate whatsoever. I don't know if the oxidizer component of tannerite can be safely used as a nitrate source.
I find it a little ass-backwards that I would be buying actual explosives to make nitric acid.
Hey Nurd, I see that one of your repaired hotplate stirrers is still in operation, it's been a few years, how are the repairs holding up nowadays?
NurdRage: Bringing you chemistry that you can do with as few items of glassware as possible.
:D
Went outside to do the wet process. For context I live near Timmins/Sudbury and it's January 13th. My nitric froze during the distillation in the condenser and in the receiving flask. Neat looking crystals at least. Never thought I'd need to use water in my condenser for heating...
Canada moment.
Water vacuum device goes down to 12mm (boiling point of cold water). And less NO2 because Nitric acid distills at lower temp.
Is there a way for this to give a higher purity, or is the max 75?
Could you give the amount of potassium nitrate needed. Guess I'm dense right now and doing the stoichiometry and is just not working for me. The number i keep getting i know is wrong. Loved the video as I do almost all of yours...thanks
if you're using the same amount of NaHS04 as in the video (150g), then use 50g of KNO3
@NurdRage thank you,for some reason i was coming up 50% greater, I'm sure it's me having a total brain fart....your the man...
Instead of sodium nitrate, do you think potassium nitrate would work? Here in Germany it's much easier to get a hold of potassium nitrate than sodium nitrate.
as said in the video, potassium nitrate and calcium nitrate may be used
Here HNO3 is available to buy as limescale remover for heating systems made of aluminium, but you can only buy a 5 or 10 liters jug
watched the vid as soon as it come out, ordered everything the same day, just finished distilling about 10 mins ago.. 95% yield. ( With Potassium Nitrate ) THANKYOU!1!! =)
@Ahapid KNO3/NaNO3 + NaHSO4 has a eutectic melting point of only 220°C.. so your safe, hope that helps =))
@Ahapid best of luck, this produces VAST amounts of NOx so be prepared :D
I read in an old chemistry book that the NO2 contamination can be removed by bubbling hydrogen through the acid. I guess that the hydrogen reacts with the NO2 and gets converted to water in the process?
Yes, but also ammonia. NH3 will not only destroy some of your HNO3, but it's also a waste of nitrogenous product -- better to use hydrogen peroxide which will actually create more nitric acid. The amount is small, but if you do this repeatedly and are very careful to keep the h2o2 scrubbing solution cold and in an amber (or opaque or foil-wrapped) bottle/flask, you can accumulate a decent amount of "extra" nitric acid over time. You'll probably have to reuse the scrubbing solution relatively quickly, though, as h2o2 is quite unstable (hence the cold-and- dark clause above) and I don't know how long it'll last once you start bubbling NOx through it. I'd imagine a few weeks at least, based on research I just made up in my head :)
“You can even have violent decomposition” creepy timing...
saw141 - 2020-08-02
I am not a chemist, I've never re-created any of your experiments. However, I have been following you for ~10 years and I still absolutely love your videos. You've taught me so much and I feel like I can follow along with your procedures. Thank you for still doing this, I hope you continue to for many, many, many more years.
NurdRage - 2020-08-02
thank you!
tachi koma - 2020-08-31
@NurdRage Not a chemist as well. However, my father was one, and as I was interested in chemistry as a kid (age 12 -16) I got all the chemicals I needed for experiments that I found in chemistry books from the local library from him. He basically explained to me the possible dangers and then let me have fun with it. It was mostly inorganic chemistry and yes, the 5kg KNO3 he gave me ended up mostly in smoke ;)
As I got older my interests shifted (computers were my second hobby) and I stopped doing experiments. However, when I came across your channel a year ago I decided to get back to my old hobby, bought some glassware and am experimenting again for pure joy and the entertainment of my kids now (they love it).
So thanks a lot and I hope you continue for a long time, for me it's the best entertainment for me on youtube.
I never thought about patreon - but I'm going to see how it works and you will be the first one I'd contribute to.
Bill A - 2021-07-10
Riiiiight.... how's that MDMA reaction coming along?! xD
ZeroMass - 2022-03-03
@Bill A
projection- the mental process by which people attribute to others what is in their own minds. For example, individuals who are in a self-critical state, consciously or unconsciously, may think that other people are critical of them. The concept was introduced to psychology by the Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)