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Adding base directly to DMT containing liquid.

desultoryendeavor said:
Just curious to the reason behind dissolving lye into water and then adding this to the acidic liquid containing DMT instead of adding it in directly.
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I've done both without issues. Dissolving in water helps target pH more easily if that is desired

Either way, I like adding the nps first. Otherwise DMT oil can form above the water, especially during mini a/b when DMT concentration can be high.
 
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Thanks for the reply. So I could add the base in small amounts straight to the liquid containing DMT and test pH each after each addition. Are pH papers fine or would I need a meter?

Adding nps first I just add the base and it passes through or around it? Will this work with the base as a solid as well as dissolved in water?

It would be worth adding nps first if I was to reduce the liquid down quite a lot. Is there a limit to how much you could reduce the liquid down by?
 
pH papers are fine. Remember that solid lye will heat up when dissolved so go slow. It can replace the heath bath when done right, but be careful.

If you reduce the water too much it will become dense and that will can change the liquid-liquid extraction process (more emulsions, etc).
 
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Loveall said:
pH papers are fine. Remember that solid lye will heat up when dissolved so go slow. It can replace the heath bath when done right, but be careful.

If you reduce the water too much it will become dense and more likely to cause emulsions.
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Here's a tip or two when using pH papers - tear off a small scrap, just big enough to see the colour changes. This will help you get five times the usage out of your strips. And rather than dipping the strip into the solution, transfer a tiny drop onto the scrap of strip using a glass rod, fine glass pipette, or stainless steel tweezers. This prevents the loss of the test paper into the solution.
 
Thank you for your help.

Glad you mentioned about reducing the liquid down to much can cause problems as I might have done that thinking a lower volume of liquid would be easier to work with.
 
desultoryendeavor said:
When looking on Amazon for pH paper I see they have cheap pH meters.

Would I be better off with paper than a cheap meter?
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Cheap pH meter probes won't last long with strong alkalies. If they're cheap enough you could get one to learn a bit of technique, but it's not as though you strictly need it right now for the extraction. It would make more sense to get one if you had a specific use case for it, like water quality monitoring or something, otherwise it's at risk of becoming a lump of electrical waste that you'll have to deal with. By contrast, the other option is essential a tiny scrap of paper.
 
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