Potassium hydroxide and carbonate from wood ashes.

[@LiborTinka]

BTW I like voice - you sound like NurdRage's apprentice :)

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

Great video, I LOVE making reagents from scratch! It might be an important skill in the near future.

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

I know right, self-sufficiency is important.

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

​@@REACTIONLAB-id1fw I have a ridiculous number of PDFs on various devices in case of a supply chain problem. Everything from medications to industrial chemicals.

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

​@@REACTIONLAB-id1fwyou can convert the carbonate to the hydroxide using heat if you want, pretty high temperature though.

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

Yeah right heat it up preferably under vacuum and then react the K2O with water to make KOH. I will consider that idea for a future video.😊

[@spacewater7]

Especially if we want soap to clean the germs off our hands after the apocalypse is over 😅

[@ZoonCrypticon]

You should definitely use a different voice, at least your own not distorted voice, which for me was a bit uneasy to listen to, so that I skipped many parts. Otherwise an interesting topic.

[@swingyflingex3458]

The video is good but please try not using creepy music and the modified voice. It gave me a very uneasy feeling.

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

Thanks but the music is the only decent stuff that fits what I do for KZbin and it is the only music that doesn't require payment.

[@6150RE]

Cool video! You sound like stoned NurdRage.

[@spacewater7]

Had quite a few questions and suggestions. Somebody already mentioned just soaking the ashes en totale, then straining the resulting liquid so that's covered. You can always sun dry the charcoal bits later, and use the grey stuff in the garden. Speaking of sun drying, I'm sure that could remove most of the water to save energy. And if you're making soap, couldn't you have stopped at the concentrated liquid stage? Even with the carbonates left in my crazy self thinks it's worth trying - just call it Dr RL's Mineral soap 😂 You could even sun dry the grey stuff and bag it as RL Lab fertilizer.

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

I like your ideas, thanks for the feedback!

[@LiborTinka]

It's beneficial to "saturate" your activated carbon by washing with with hot water several times, then pack a column with it (e.g. from PVC pipe) a run some more water through it - the carbon should be underwater throughout the whole filtration process - this way all your crude solution will flow through the whole volume of carbon. See "Activated carbon for purification of alcohol" booklet for details.

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

Oh bet I will try it next time!

[@kateonianlaw1127]

The best way I have found to dry the liquid concentration is to use polypropylene plastic containers in a sand-bath over low heat in a crock pot. Stainless steel only can handle hot moderately concentrated hydroxides (B-rating on compatibility chart at 50deg C) contaminating the product. Polypropylene handles the higher temperatures and caustic environment (A-rating with concentration caustics at 50deg C) without contaminating the product and it stays white, plus no glass etching.

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

I will have to try that method, thanks!

[@spiritofage8235]

Avoid wet bases and aluminium to not get aluminium contamination

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

Yeah I had thought of that once I had finished making the video!

[@ИгорьКулинич-з8к]

Работа наша и опасна и трудна!

[@charlesurrea1451]

Your process is slightly different than what I had seen. I recall the ashes being boiled first then separated out from the liquid.

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

Yeah that works as well perhaps to increase the yield by increasing the solubility in hot water.

[@Elephantine999]

Cyborg narrator?

[@joseignaciobaluk3741]

What is the PH of the leftover ash after bleaching? Of course, I would assume that all hydroxide has left with the wash, so it will certainly be much less than 12. I was just thinking about how I never thought about using it as fertilizer, it's something that I will start doing from now on!

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

I haven't measured the pH but what we have left after washing is mostly oxides of metals like Ca, K, Na and some Iron oxide. They aren't soluble but over time bacteria and fungi in the soil will produce acids to dissolve them and make the metals available to the plants.

[@tonyrichard8078]

No matter how hard you try its qlways going to bw yellow... Ive tried literally dverything.

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

I know chemistry just loves to be yellow 🟡

[@LiborTinka]

@@REACTIONLAB-id1fw There is a simple physical reason for why is that, but explaining it would spoil the fun.

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

Good to know I will do some research.

[@chemicalmaster3267]

@REACTION LAB If you´re interested, I know another way to purify potassium carbonate from wood ashes.

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

Yeah sure tell me about it!

[@chemicalmaster3267]

@@REACTIONLAB-id1fw Alright then. The trick is convert the impure potassium carbonate into potassium hydrogen tartrate a.k.a. potassium bitartrate, which is not very soluble in water. Step 1: Prepare a concentrated solution of sodium hydrogen tartrate by reacting sodium hydrogen carbonate, sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide with tartaric acid in the right ratio and evaporating the solution until crystals start to appear. After that add just a little bit of water to redissolve them. NaOH (aq) (or NaHCO3 (aq)) + C4H6O6 (aq) = NaHC4H4O6 (aq) + H2O (l) (+ CO2 (g), if NaHCO3 is used) Na2CO3 (aq) + 2 C4H6O6 (aq) = 2 NaHC4H4O6 (aq) + H2O (l) + CO2 (g) Step 2: Prepare a solution of the impure potassium carbonate and add enough solution of a soluble calcium salt (acetate or chloride for example) until no more whitish precipitate of insoluble calcium salts (mostly calcium carbonate) forms. If a little excess calcium salt solution was added, add some sodium carbonate to remove it as calcium carbonate. Then filter everything and keep the potassium salt solution. Step 3: Concentrate the solution by boiling until crystals start to form and after cooling redissolve them if needed. Step 4: Treat the concentrated potassium salt solution with enough sodium hydrogen tartrate until no more white crystalline precipitate of potassium hydrogen tartrate forms and then filter it and wash it with cold water and afterwards ethanol. K+ (aq) + NaHC4H4O6 (aq) = KHC4H4O6 (s) + Na+ (aq) Step 5: Roast the potassium hydrogen tartrate and recrystallize the high purity potassium carbonate from the residue.

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

My friend this is really valuable information 🙏. Thank you for sharing this with me. You are truly a chemical master! I will attempt this process during some of my free time.

[@chemicalmaster3267]

@@REACTIONLAB-id1fw Thanks for the compliment! You´re the first fellow chemist youtuber to do that!😊 And no worries, I´m always happy to offer good help to those that need it whenever and however I can.🙂👍 Feel free to ask me anything about chemistry if any questions come up. Hopefully I can help you more times.

[@chemicalmaster3267]

@REACTIONLAB-id1fw By the way, I suddenly remembered an old-fashioned synthesis that I think you could try and that I think would make an interesting video: what do you think about trying to create potassium ferrocyanide from potassium carbonate, iron powder and nitrogenous organic matter (like hair, nails, hooves, horns, leather scrap...)?

[@Theindustrialprocess]

Procedure 10/10 voice 0/10

[@Fearmylogic]

I just started the video, and will try to get through it all. But your modulated voice makes it VERY difficult to understand you at times. If you want to hide you voice, you need to make your modulated voice have more treble in it. It's all bass.

[@REACTIONLAB-id1fw]

Thanks for the feedback, I will try to improve the audio.