metalresearcher - 15-10-2010 at 12:46
In the middle of experimenting with Na2CO3 + C for making sodium I wonder whether electrolyzing lye is really so difficult ?
I am going to try to get sink / drain cleaner which is nearly pure NaOH.
Here are two methods wsith each has advantages:
Chemical:
++ Na3CO3 and charcoal (or Al snippets) is easy to obtain
++Get the required temp of 1200oC is not a problem for me as well
-- Hard to capture the Na vapor in oil (without capturing I see the Na vapor burning but with an oil bath I wonder where the Na metal is left .....
Electrolytical:
++ I can use a welder + rectifier to power the electrolysis with 50 A
-- Temperature of the lye bath should be within a narrow range of 320-330oC. Under 320 it freezes, above 330 the Na metal dissolves in the lye amd the
electrolysis does not take place anymore.
-- Na metal floats on the lye bath so it is exposed to air and burns / ozidizes easily and / or drifts to the anode
So the Castner cell is not easy to rebuild on a small scale I think more difficult than a leak free retort (which I managed to make now).
Another electrolytic option is imitating the Downs cell but the salt solution (CaCl2 + NaCl ) is 600oC so to keep the Na metal isolated is VERY
DIFFICULT .....
Your opinions on this ?
not_important - 15-10-2010 at 13:08
My opinion is that this has been beaten to death on SM, there's thread after thread on the topic with tradeoffs discussed, as well as a nice one in
pre-publications on the small scale electrolytic method that Len wrote up.
Xenoid - 15-10-2010 at 13:11
Good grief! 
Why are you starting yet another thread on sodium!
Have you looked at some of the other forum posts on this subject!
Especially len1's detailed thread here;
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=9797
entropy51 - 15-10-2010 at 14:56
From another Amateur Science forum
Sodium by Electrolysis
Science Madness has a time-honored custom of redundant threads!