A slight correction is necessary here. Concentrated sulfuric acid (~98%) is 18 M or 18 molar. This does make a significance difference. an 18 M solution is 36 N or 36 normal, because sulfuric acid is diprotic. Hence a 18 N solution of sulfuric acid would only be about 50%, the remainder water. I doubt that it would work as a catalyst with the water present, because the acid stage appears to be very sensitive to the presence of water.
Hunt, Adam wrote: >If you are looking to buy sulfuric acid from a chemical supplier you might >want to ask for 18N sulfuric acid (thats "eighteen normal sulfuric acid"). >18N sulfuric acid is what is more commonly know as concentrated sulfuric acid. > >If you are interested in small quantities of relatively concentrated H2SO4 go >to your local home center's plumbing section and look at the bottles of drain >opener. The stores near me carry quart jugs sealed in clear plastic bags of >sulfuric acid for use as a serious drain opener. I can not attest for the >quality of acid from this source it may have quite a bit of water in it. > > I doubt that it would be conc. sulfuric acid. Addition of conc. sulfuric acid to a small amount of water, as may be found in a clogged drain would cause the resultant solution to boil instantly, resulting in acid/water mixture blowing back in your face. >Sulfuric acid does have an affinity for water so you may want to dry it. As I >have never used this method I do not know how sensitive it is to water and I >can not say if it is necessary. You can boil off all but 2% of the absorbed >water by carefully boiling it off. > you might, I would not even think about it. > You might also be able to use a desiccant such as CaCl2 or silica gel > although I am not sure what is proper to use for H2SO4. > > Actually I bet you could use conc. sulfuric acid to dry CaCl2. >What ever you do BE CAREFUL! H2SO4 is nasty stuff use it with respect. > > Very important advise! If you want a small quantity of conc. sulfuric acid, to do test batches, try going to the nearest college/university chemistry lab, explain clearly what you want to do with the stuff and I bet someone would give it to you. I certainly would- assuming you knew what you were doing and were aware of the risks involved in handling the stuff. >--adam > >-----Original Message----- >From: Pool, Ryan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2004 7:46 AM >To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com >Subject: [biofuel] Sulfuric acid in the US > > >Ok, it's time for me to get geared up to try the foolproof method. I want to >get leads on some of the supplies in case it takes a long time to find them. >I've got everything I'll need except a good source of sulfuric acid. > >According to Aleks' documentation you need 95% sulfuric acid. The only >strength I've found is "reagent grade" which one person thought was 93%, not >95%. No one I've talked to knows how to find 95%. > >Also, the only person that I've found that will sell it in small quantities is >about 200 miles away, and wants nearly $100US per liter by the time you >include all the shipping charges to get it to him. Then I have to go pick it >up from him. > >There's got to be a better way, I just haven't found it yet. > >I know there are one or two people in St. Louis, Missouri, US, and central >Missouri on here. Where do you get it? > > >Thanks, > >Ryan > > > > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Biofuels list archives: >http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ > >Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. >To unsubscribe, send an email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bob Allen, Professor of Chemistry Arkansas Tech University http://ozarker.org/bob Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Article 19 of The Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly,10 December 1948: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
