hi, Im doing also some experiments with potash (wood ash filtered solution)
Mine came as yellow liquid.
Proceed from 350gr wood ash (some charcoal was also inside the wood ash. aprox 600 ml boiling water. Boiled for 10 min. Filtered.
Reduced (concentrated) to 100 ml aprox by boiling. Currently is waiting for cristalls (if any) . Will give a week (till next weekend) if not any
cristalls, then reduce till some precipitate is form, then cristallization again.
As it supposed to be mostly potassium carbonate, I will use is to precipitate other carbonates from an earth-water leaching for getting nitrates from
soil.
not tried but :
One form of purification is to add a sodium carbonate solution (maybe sodium bicarbonate will work), because "Most carbonate salts are insoluble in
water at standard temperature and pressure, with solubility constants of less than 1×10−8. Exceptions include lithium,sodium,
potassium, rubidium, caesium, and ammonium carbonates, as well as many uranium carbonates.
This will precipitate other carbonates from the potash, leaving sodium/potasium carbonate in solution.
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I think it's Potassium Sulphate...