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Question about evapping HCl

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w0mbat

w0mbat

Rising Star
Let's say SWIY has some HCl dissolved in water, and s/he starts evaporating that water. How low will the pH go? Will this be a concern for stainless steel pots?

Are there any other safety concerns that SWIM would need to know before trying to evap a solution of water with HCl in it?
 
This is a good question. I hope others are reading this.

The solution of HCl in water will not get more concentrated as it evaporates, if anything it could get less concentrated.

Hydrochloric acid forms an azeotrope with water at about 20% by weight. When you evaporate the solution hydrogen chloride gas and water vapor forms. The hydrogen chloride gas is very irritating and will rust things close to it. Don't do it around stainless steel because it causes it to rust.

Evaporating a solution of HCl is quite nasty and breathing in the vapors can be extremely irritating. You should do it in a well ventilated room with no stainless steel nearby.
 
What kinds of containers are good for evapping a HCl-water mix? SWIM got a nice stainless steel pot and thought it would work great for evapping basically anything.

SWIM is interested in making mescaline HCl since it seems like it can be cleaned w/o acetone or MEK but does not like all the complications with using HCl :(
 
Stainless steel is probably not too good for evaporating chemicals. Try a pyrex glass container such as a cake pan. If you are not going to heat it then a plastic container or even a regular "eating" dish should work.

elphologist
 
w0mbat said:
SWIM is interested in making mescaline HCl since it seems like it can be cleaned w/o acetone or MEK but does not like all the complications with using HCl :(
Click to expand...

Yeah...that's why SWIM is trying to get off using it. It's dangerous, causes household things to rust, smells bad, and is impossible to get in food grade for SWIM.

If SWIM could get 10% food grade HCl, that might be good, but that's just not available. And the extra safety effort needed when using concentrated technical grade HCl is a drag.

Some people might not like the smell of vinegar, but at least it’s easy to get in safe food grade form and its fumes don't rust things.

Hopefully someone will find a good easy cleanup step for mescaline acetate that doesn’t require MEK. SWIM will work on this in the future.
 
swim has used a stainless steel pressure cooker with dilute HCl (pH of 3) for his SP extraction with no problems.
in fact, acid-resistant tweezers are also made of stainless steel, probably 418. SS items are typically tolerant to HCl, but avoid strongly oxidizing acids like HNO3 and H2SO4.
and never use aluminum containers with acids or bases.

just store HCl in a cool place, and SWIY will be a'ight.
 
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