Science_Yak
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Sodium Metal Production Idea
In the thermochemical dioxane approach to producing sodium metal, there are low yields due to sodium evaporating and escaping the original reaction
vessel when producing the aggregate. My question is would it be possible to add a heat sink to lower the reaction temperature and increase yield.
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Ubya
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you can't really lower the reaction temperature, adding a heatsink to the container walls will condense a bit more of the sodium, but the reaction is
hot and fast, you'll need a big cointainer to hold the expanding sodium vapour, otherwise it is just going to escape before being condensed.
The issue now is that you have a tiny amount of sodium spread on the walls of a big container, so even if you now hat a high yield you won't be able
to scrape all the sodium effectively before it oxidizes
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Fyndium
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Use a tall reaction vessel with exhaust chimney vent on top, and place your condenser coldfinger/coil there. Probably ain't doable with duct tape and
silly putty - I prefer SS and TIG welder - but it's far from impossible. Actually, industry uses all these things, the difference is they invest a
load of money to their facilities.
Practically, you could just get a meter long SS tube, weld the bottom shut and crank a condenser on top of it - or around it. Whatever goes up,
condenses to the walls or to the condenser, but pressure can freely escape. Putting a simple coldfinger device on the exit doesn't sound bad at all,
considering the stuff boils at extreme temps and easily solidifies when other things go boil.
I was planning on making such a vessel for cyanides when I had them on table. It would allow monitoring the escaping CO gas flare by attaching a
burner if necessary, and when it ceases, one can just shut it, and any foaming or splattering, unless excessive, would stay within.
Closed apparatus has also the benefit of using inert gas. That will increase yield of easily oxidizing stuff by a noticeable degree. When I ran the
benzaldehyde oxidation and steam distillation, I flushed the system with CO2 generated into a balloon, and added another one to the exhaust so the
system pressure could swing within a margin by the expanding or shrinking balloon, and if for any reason the pressure builds up too much, the balloon
will just burst because inflated balloons can hold like 25mbar. I also have done vacuum distillations by attaching CO2 filled balloon to the bleeder
tube, hence no O2 is bled into the boiling BzH. One can also use this to flush a vacuum system when depressurizing, because airflow can foil the
freshly distilled stuff that doesn't like oxygen. Of course, nitrogen or argon must be used when CO2 reacts with any of the reaction elements.
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Fluorite
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Maybe making sodium azide and heating it slowly should make pure sodium metal and nitrogen? But azides are toxic af :/ nevertheless after decomposed
no azide should be left
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Fery
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Fluorite, an azide of one heavy metal is used as primary initiator in detonators... Do you think decomposition of NaN3 would run slowly or violently?
Perhaps it would requite some phlegmatizer like NaCl...
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Tsjerk
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Decomposition of sodium azide produces pure sodium metal and nitrogen indeed, but the reaction is very exothermic so the sodium will be flying around
in a molten state. If there is any oxygen around it will catch fire.
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monolithic
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Why not build a Castner cell? There's a few videos on YouTube of it working quite well.
(I've tried the NurdRage mineral oil/menthol reaction. It worked really well a few times, and poorly to not at all about 8 other times. Very hard
reaction.)
[Edited on 11-6-2020 by monolithic]
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morganbw
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Shit please just look into prepublication. Maybe not for you but it is doable if you are not truly lazy.
[Edited on 11/7/2020 by morganbw]
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AdamAlden
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nurdrage recently figured out a way to do this he did a ton of experiments you guy might be interested.
I am a buttmeister
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