Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Looking for nitrates

Looking for nitrates

plante1999 - 5-2-2013 at 16:17

I'm currently looking for nitrates in Canada, I would need a too large investment to make my own from ammonia with a good yield. I will take the best offer. I have a 45$ budget max on this. (Including shipping). I'm interested mostly by the three main nitrate, ammonium, sodium, and potassium. I'm looking for an amount that will last me a long time. I hope to get about 2.5 Kg for 35$ + shipping.

It is not for pyrotechnics. I think mostly everyone here know I do not like pyrotechnics or general K3wl stuff. The nitrate will be used for chemistry experiments, as always. I would like the nitrate to be properly labeled.

Thanks!

elementcollector1 - 5-2-2013 at 17:12

Where exactly in Canada are you? I have a plentiful supply of AN down here, and would be happy to ship it up if you're anywhere on the general west side of Canada.

plante1999 - 5-2-2013 at 17:27

I'm in north-east canada, Quebec.

You can send me a U2U for price, if you still can.

ScienceSquirrel - 5-2-2013 at 17:50

I would have a look round specialist garden and horticultural suppliers for a start.
Nitrates are the premier plant foliage boosters and coupled with potassium it can be a bit magical on a yellow looking peaky plant.

plante1999 - 5-2-2013 at 17:53

Quote: Originally posted by ScienceSquirrel

I would have a look round specialist garden and horticultural suppliers for a start.
Nitrates are the premier plant foliage boosters and coupled with potassium it can be a bit magical on a yellow looking peaky plant.

I did, but nitrates are banned :mad:

, only urea is allowed. I checked every ******* package of fertilizer. When I asked about magnesium nitrate for foliage, I was suspected of blowing things up...

Mailinmypocket - 5-2-2013 at 18:05

Nitrates are not banned here, they are a restricted component of the explosives act, but not banned. They are somewhat controlled, but not as difficult to obtain as you make it seem and not nearly as difficult to get as chlorates.

Out of curiosity- How exactly do you know you were suspected of blowing things up though?

plante1999 - 5-2-2013 at 18:12

Quebec is not like the Canada in general you know

, the guy told me I was going to blow something up...

If someone in Quebec city tell me he find it easy, I would probably not understand.

[Edited on 6-2-2013 by plante1999]

[Edited on 6-2-2013 by plante1999]

plante1999 - 6-2-2013 at 09:34

I found a faillure in a Canadian supplier! It is not restricted to proper instituion ID as all other nitrate!

http://prolabscientific.com/Ammonium-Nitrate-p-21578.html

It would cost me 57$ with the shipping and everything tough.

[Edited on 6-2-2013 by plante1999]

DraconicAcid - 6-2-2013 at 09:49

If it's the Quebec, rather than Canadian, laws that are making it tough to get nitrates, perhaps your next trip should include a drive through Ontario or New Brunswick?

Mailinmypocket - 6-2-2013 at 09:54

Quote: Originally posted by plante1999

I found a faillure in a Canadian supplier! It is not restricted to proper instituion ID as all other nitrate!

http://prolabscientific.com/Ammonium-Nitrate-p-21578.html

It would cost me 57$ with the shipping and everything tough.

[Edited on 6-2-2013 by plante1999]

Just to be on the safe side I would call them and make sure- they just redesigned their website and before it was redesigned the ammonium nitrate carried the same "institutional purchase only" message as their KNO3 and friends. It might save the trouble or ordering and paying and then having them call you and needing to refund and all that crap. I bought sodium last year from them and the site said 125g, when I received a 100g jar I was rather pissed, I emailed them and the site was changed the next day but no offer for partial refund!! So, take their site with a grain of salt...

Erbium_Iodine_Carbon - 9-2-2013 at 07:41

I've found super cheap cold packs at the local dollar store that contain what looks to be fairly pure ammonium nitrate. They have probably around 200g of prills and are less than $2 each. If you haven't tried looking there I would suggest it. They come in a blue box with one pack per box.

I've seen these both in my hometown and in Kingston where I'm going to school, so it seems they are fairly widespread.

(edit): I've also had good access to nitrates, chlorates and perchlorates but ordering them from the states and having my uncle bring them up to Ontario when he comes to visit.

[Edited on 9-2-2013 by Erbium_Iodine_Carbon]

[Edited on 9-2-2013 by Erbium_Iodine_Carbon]

Arthur Dent - 11-2-2013 at 07:16

@ Erbium_Iodine_Carbon

Beware of the dollar store cold-packs. Many did indeed contain nearly pure Ammonium Nitrate a few years ago, but they have been mostly replaced with packs containing Urea, or a mix of Urea and Ammonium Nitrate. You can tell them apart by the fact that Ammonium Nitrate will give a solution with an acidic pH (around 5), the urea solution will be a bit more neutral, so if you have a mixture of both, I have no idea how to tell them apart or separate them.

Robert

elementcollector1 - 11-2-2013 at 09:27

Rite Aid still carries ammonium nitrate cold packs in my area, they're $6 per pack, about 500g per pack. Not sure about purity, though. Proof is on the label of the pack, and that when mixed with sodium hydroxide and a few drops of water the prills furiously emit ammonia.

mr.crow - 11-2-2013 at 10:07

I have a thread somewhere about getting nitrates from cold packs. Not a very politically correct thing in Canada unfortunately

The ones now are full of dirt (called calcium ammonium nitrate). You can dissolve the AN, filter out the crap then use your aqueous solution. Precipitating KNO3 with KCl is very effective.

elementcollector1 - 11-2-2013 at 10:08

Where'd the calcium go, to the slightly-soluble hydroxide?

mr.crow - 11-2-2013 at 10:12

I think they use CaCO3 not CaNO3, so its all insoluble. Plus sand

Erbium_Iodine_Carbon - 14-2-2013 at 20:38

This is what the cold packs I get look like. On thepackage it says "Contains Ammonium Nitrate, Water" or something like that. There is no mention of urea, but I guess it could be present as an impurity. The bag is filled with small white prills. So far this is the best kind I've found. The ones from Rexall pharmacy contain urea and the ones from Walmart are brown and gritty.

Hope this helps.

plante1999 - 19-2-2013 at 09:10

The probleme have been solved! Thanks for everyone help.

I now have enough nitrate for a long time!

[Edited on 20-2-2013 by plante1999]

Erbium_Iodine_Carbon - 19-2-2013 at 21:32

Could you perhaps let us know what you got and where from? Nitrates are hard to come by in Canada and it would be great if you could share your source.

numos - 22-2-2014 at 18:09

Don't know if you are still interested, but I think Duda Diesel sells to Canada as long as you don't buy any of their "hazardous chemicals". I bought my KNO3 from there to make nitric acid. It's 99.8% pure at $4 a pound. Cheaper than cold packs.

http://www.dudadiesel.com/search.php?query=%22potassium+nitr...