Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Welding gas for chemical reactions?

antimon - 30-9-2015 at 04:02

Like the subject title of the thread say, can you use regular welding Argon for doing chemical reactions?

I understand that it probably won't work in every single reaction, but i wonder if it will succeed in general, if the gas is pure enough.

Im sorry if my post is unclear in any way, i am sorry.

j_sum1 - 30-9-2015 at 04:10

Assuming that you need the gas for an inert atmosphere, (argon does not react) then yes. Welding argon is inert. That's what it is used for in welding.

Varmint - 30-9-2015 at 04:31

You need to be certain you ask for pure argon, most welding "Argon" is a mixture of Argon and CO2.

Upsilon - 30-9-2015 at 09:39

Even CO2 is virtually inert for non-aqueous chemistry. When dealing with solutions of salts, however, some CO2 will be absorbed to form carbonate ions.

careysub - 30-9-2015 at 09:45

Quote: Originally posted by Varmint  
You need to be certain you ask for pure argon, most welding "Argon" is a mixture of Argon and CO2.


Do you run into Ar-Co2 mixes being sold as argon much?

A CO2 admixture is no good for welding aluminum, and people weld aluminum all the time. It is not an exotic activity at all. I'd think a business practice like that would cause trouble fairly often.

zed - 30-9-2015 at 11:47

Umm. CO2 is pretty inert, but not to things like LiAlH4, or Organometallics.

careysub - 30-9-2015 at 11:51

Quote: Originally posted by zed  
Umm. CO2 is pretty inert, but not to things like LiAlH4, or Organometallics.


Or even to mundane chemicals that readily form carbonates. Don't need to get exotic for CO2 to be a bad actor.