Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Barium nitrate from sparklers

otonel - 8-12-2013 at 03:26

I extracted some barium nitrate from cheap sparklers but the purity of final product was not satisfactory because barium nitrate don`t crystallize like potassium nitrate do, and I heat the solution until all water evaporate .
The product is grey color and when burn in mixture with some combustible leave a lot of residue.
Cam you help me with some ideas to make the product purify better .

bismuthate - 8-12-2013 at 03:57

Mix it with a solution of NaOH then bubble air (CO2) through the solution and filter the percipitate. This is barium carbonate which you can add to HNO3 to make barium nitrate.

phlogiston - 8-12-2013 at 05:15

In my experience barium nitrate crystallises easily.

I suspect you retained some metal powders from the mixtures. It contains both fine aluminium powder and coarse iron powder. It is advisable to extract the iron powder first with a magnet before proceeding with the rest of the mixture.

Don't make the mistake of using very hot water to extract the barium nitrate, because exothermic oxidation of the aluminium powder will result in a boiling mud and virtually no yield. It is better to use a large quantity of cold water and boil it down after filtering.

DubaiAmateurRocketry - 8-12-2013 at 08:17

adding some acetone can get you most of barium nitrate in few seconds.

Bert - 8-12-2013 at 11:56

Might want to look at the toxicity of water soluble Barium compounds before you go about the extraction, and plan carefully to avoid contact with solutions, dust or fumes. Barium carbonate (reacts to form soluble Barium chloride in the stomach) was a popular RAT POISON before the modern anticoagulant poisons were invented.

Be aware, some people are much more sensitive to Barium than others. I have used Barium nitrate powder in formulating pyrotechnic mixtures with just leather gloves, long sleeves and a filter mask for protection. Others who have done this have had symptoms of Barium poisoning from apparently minor skin contact with Barium nitrate dusts-

The effects of a minor, non lethal poisoning were similar to the worst flu and diahroea you have ever had, both happening at once. It's something to avoid!

Both Barium and Strontium nitrates decompose mosy to their nitrites with low Oxygen yield and lots of solid residue in low temperature pyrotechnic mixes with organic fuels vs high temperature mixes fueled with powdered metals, sulfides or Sulfur. If you had a lot of residue and poor performance, the choice of your fuel is a possible cause in addition to your extraction product being impure. Some pyrotechnic mixtures include auxiliary oxidizers such as Chlorate or perchlorate to address this issue if they don't employ high temperature fuels.



[Edited on 8-12-2013 by Bert]

[Edited on 8-12-2013 by Bert]

otonel - 8-12-2013 at 12:17
Quote:

I suspect you retained some metal powders from the mixtures. It contains both fine aluminium powder and coarse iron powder. It is advisable to extract the iron powder first with a magnet before proceeding with the rest of the mixture.

Don't make the mistake of using very hot water to extract the barium nitrate, because exothermic oxidation of the aluminium powder will result in a boiling mud and virtually no yield. It is better to use a large quantity of cold water and boil it down after filtering.


You have right I do that mistake
Quote:

adding some acetone can get you most of barium nitrate in few seconds.

That means barium nitrate is soluble in acetone? If that is true it will be a good step forward for my extraction
Bert thank`s for security measures , I work with that kind of materials and know their toxicity

Bert - 8-12-2013 at 12:28

No, the organic solvent causes the barium nitrate to drop out of solution. A similar method to using alcohol to cause potassium nitrate to crystalize out of a water solution.

If you missed the bit about low temperature fuels and Barium nitrate I just added, might want to look at it.