Where does all the naptha go?

[HyperAeon]

HI ALL, This is my first post here so forgive my "noobishness" And also, thanks for such a wonderful forum! It has been a real learning process going through and reading all the threads! Anyways, here's the deal. A friend did a batch a couple days ago using Nomans tek. Everything went swimmingly. He isn't sure of the total yield yet but it seems to be average. He repeated the exact same procedure today with all the same materials and amounts, and there seems to be a problem, or maybe not. Which brings us to the question.... During the naptha pull phase, 750ml water 50g. MHRB 50 g. Lye. Then added roughly 60ml naptha. Did the agitation 4 times. Placed in Sep. Funnel. Waited 10 min. separation seemed alright except considerably less naptha. Waited a little longer and it definitely wasn't separating any more. Drained the base, then the naptha and only got roughly 15ml out of it! So where does the rest go? Is it normal to only end up with 25% the amount? Does he have to wait alot longer? The wierd thing is, that this didn't happen the last time! The last time it separated very quick and closer to the same amount?!? Does temp. / humidity effect this process? It was much hotter and much more humid this week. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks! -HA #-o

 

[zero]

Was there an emulsion? Sometimes if its agitated too much or the solvent isnt hot enough it will take longer for the layers to separate.

 

[Garulfo]

If the soup is too thick, naphta get 'cathed' by the soup. Add some water+lye. Also your amount of naphta is quite small which makes it more difficult to separate. You can add 60 ml more and evaporate later if there is too much of it.

 

[The Little White Elf]

Also if your container does not have a lid on it that is air tight some of the naph probably evaporated too.