Orchis members : I have some Nitric Acid that has been in storage for
several years . I used it for coloring Silica Bronze. I want to get
rid of it but I think I should Netrulize the solution first. Any safe
procedure you suggest will be apreciated verry much.
Billy S. Bates
Royal Wildlife Miniatures
P.O. Box 3151
Torrance Ca. 90510
310-316-5944
Carefully!
Seriously, pour it into water slowly. Dilute it as much as you can
6, 8, or 10 times as much water as acid. Then pour the dilute acid
into a basic solution, as simple as a box or two of baking soda in a
gallon of water. When it stops fizzing put in more soda. That will
do a good job. The stuff is not really hard to get rid of. Just
remember always ACID into water not reverse and DILUTE ACID into basic
solution. It should be safe enough to flush down the drain after
that.
Walt
Dilute the acid by mixing it with water 10:1 (water to acid). Always
add the acid to a larger volume of water. Then mix in baking soda
(sodium bicarb) a little at a time. You’ll see the reaction
immediately; it will foam. Allow the foaming action to dissipate.
Then repeat the process of adding more baking soda and waiting until
it stops foaming. Continuing doing this until the solution no longer
reacts to the addition of fresh baking soda. At that point the acid
will be neutralized and you can flush it.
I have some Nitric Acid that has been in storage for several years . I used it for coloring Silica Bronze. I want to get rid of it but I think I should Netrulize the solution first. Any safe procedure you suggest will be apreciated verry much.
G’day Billy Bates; The first thing to do is to dilute the
concentrated acid down to about 10 - 15%. As you have already some
experience with the acid, you will know the need to wear rubber gloves
and eye protection. and perhaps a plastic or rubber apron. Pour the
acid slowly into water with constant stirring; it will get warm, but
nothing like as hot as the dilution of sulphuric acid gets. When
cool, add sodium carbonate (washing soda) or sodium bicarbonate
(baking powder) slowly, with stirring until it no longer fizzes, which
indicates that the acid is neutralised. What you have now is a
solution of sodium nitrate which is often used as a fertilizer. You
can absorb it into dry soil, mixing well, and spread it thinly over a
pasture, or even a vegetable plot, or take the dried soil/nitrate mix
to the local tip and scatter it about there. Do not, however absorb
it into organic materials like sawdust; it would make the sawdust far
more flammable when dried, as all nitrates are powerful oxidising
agents. Nitrates are one of the main ingredients of gunpowder and
fireworks. – Cheers now, John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 of Mapua
Nelson NZ
Attn. Billy Bates
We manufacture the Pre Mixed Gold Testing Solutions that are used in
the Industry and use about 200 gallons of Nitric acid for every
batch. The answer to your question is that "Nitric Acid can be
neutralized with Baking Soda. "
We always have a giant packs of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda.
Costco/Price Club or any Bakery Supply place will have it.
Have a good supply of Water on hand if in case you have to wash.
Add small quantities of Baking Soda at a time (there will be fumes &
reaction). Try to do this in a ventilated area and keep on adding till
there is no reaction.
Where is the next Orchid Golf Outing?
Kenneth
What you have now is a solution of sodium nitrate which is often used as a fertilizer. You can absorb it into dry soil, mixing well, and spread it thinly over a pasture, or even a vegetable plot, or take the dried soil/nitrate mix to the local tip and scatter it about there. ...
If this is used acid it will have copper in it (is it blue?) An
excess of carbonate will precipitate most of the copper but I still
wouldn’t sprinkle it around my garden. If it does not have copper
dissolved in it then the neutralised dilute solution (doesn’t want to
be too basic either!) is probably OK fertilizer for your lawn - I
wouldn’t put it on my vegie patch. By the way, if this is a lot of acid
(like a gallon) it will take a LOT of bicarb to neutralise it ( likwe
10 - 15 lbs bicarb for 1 gal of concentrated acid) and it WILL foam
like crazy so add the acid slowly. An alternative to bicarb if you
need a lot would be crushed limestone from the plant nursery. When you
are doing this, use goggles, gloves, and etc. – Looking forward: Alan
Shinn http://www.mindspring.com/~alshinn/