WOW! Accidentally used Soda Ash instead of Lye, any way to recover?

[musicguy24]

SO yeah SWIM grabbed the wrong bottle and accidentally used Sodium Carbonate(Soda Ash) instead of Sodium Hydroxide(Lye):shock: . He's really learning that sometimes it's the small things that mess you up! He was in the middle of his second naptha pull when realizing this mistake. Is there any way to savor the root bark mix? Or is it ruined?
As always, I really appreciate your guys' help.

He's using 150g of MHRB.

 

[acacian]

Should be fine... sodium carb wont get the ph quite as high as lye .. if its not high enough just add more lye to push it up a bit more... whats the ph at now?

Sodium Carbonate can be used as a base just as lye can.. you just need a bit more

 

[musicguy24]

Should be fine... sodium carb wont get the ph quite as high as lye .. if its not high enough just add more lye to push it up a bit more... whats the ph at now?

Sodium Carbonate can be used as a base just as lye can.. you just need a bit more

Oh well that's great news!
SWIM put 150g of Sodium Carbonate into the 150g MHRB mix.
Any prediction as to how much Lye would be needed at this point?

 

[Psyren]

Whats the color of the mix looking like?

 

[endlessness]

Add lye till whole mix is jet black, then add a bit more, and continue pulling.

 

[musicguy24]

Add lye till whole mix is jet black, then add a bit more, and continue pulling.

Thanks again so much for your help guys!
The only issue is SWIM is mixing this in a large blue jar so it's already looking pretty dark...
I know 150g of lye should've been added, would you guess that I need half of that at this point? 2/3? Any ballpark guesses?
You guys rock!

 

[endlessness]

Too much lye isnt a problem, you dont have to worry.. just to say a number, you could add, say, 100g lye, that might be enough. Do a pull (mixing well a few times before separating), freeze separately from other pulls, and see the yield. If yield is bad, add more lye, do another pull, check yield.

Its hard to say exactly how much to add because it's kinda complex.. Because while the sodium carbonate has already raised the pH some, at the same time it will act as a buffer so you'll need more base to raise the pH the same amount, and also the sodium carbonate will affect the solubility so the lye might take a bit more stirring/time to dissolve well.

in any case, just add lye, and keep going, dont throw anything away, let us know how it goes, im sure it will work fine

 

[musicguy24]

Too much lye isnt a problem, you dont have to worry.. just to say a number, you could add, say, 100g lye, that might be enough. Do a pull (mixing well a few times before separating), freeze separately from other pulls, and see the yield. If yield is bad, add more lye, do another pull, check yield.

Its hard to say exactly how much to add because it's kinda complex.. Because while the sodium carbonate has already raised the pH some, at the same time it will act as a buffer so you'll need more base to raise the pH the same amount, and also the sodium carbonate will affect the solubility so the lye might take a bit more stirring/time to dissolve well.

in any case, just add lye, and keep going, dont throw anything away, let us know how it goes, im sure it will work fine

Gotcha, alright awesome!
Really appreciate the info from the man himself! You're pretty much a legend.
Very glad to know nothing was wasted!
I'll definitely let you know how it goes

 

[musicguy24]

Here's an update of how this extraction went...

Keep in mind: 150 grams of root bark was used

Roughly 120g of lye was added after the 150g of sodium carbonate was used instead of 150g lye by accident.

.62 of pure while powder/crystal was obtained right away through the first precipitation
1.47g was obtained through recrystallization
=2.09g :d total from 150g of MHRB.
~1.4% is pretty darn good I hear!
It is reported to be VERY powerful stuff, just need a small taste of this stuff.
In conclusion, using the sodium carbonate did not seem to result in a lower yield!

The MHRB was obtained from Sonoran Song