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Topic: Disposal of Muriatic acid  (Read 4809 times)

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Offline Fractasm

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Disposal of Muriatic acid
« on: August 18, 2014, 11:17:08 AM »
Hi everyone. I plan to use some muriatic acid to strip the deposits from sea shells and geodes. also I was going to try some acid etching in combination with hydrogen peroxide on copper jewelry. my question is what do I do with the excess muriatic acid and hydrogen peroxide/muriatic when I'm done with it? ive read that you can neutralize the Muriatic with baking soda but then what do I do with that? of course I don't want to throw it in the trash or down the drain. thanks for any feedback.

Offline kriggy

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Re: Disposal of Muriatic acid
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2014, 11:28:12 AM »
If you neutralize HCl with baking soda you are left with solution of NaCl in water:
NaHCO3 + HCl → NaCl + H2CO3
H2CO3 → H2O + CO2(g)

so you can throw it down the drain. Be careful however, neutralization is exothermic and CO2 is evolved so add the soda slowly and use protective equipment.

Offline Fractasm

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Re: Disposal of Muriatic acid
« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2014, 11:39:30 AM »
what an awesome answer. I feel smarter just reading it. thanks so much. and I assume that I would just neutralize the muriatic/hydrogen peroxide mix the same way?

Offline Babcock_Hall

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Re: Disposal of Muriatic acid
« Reply #3 on: November 10, 2021, 08:50:36 AM »
Dilute and then neutralize it before pouring down the sink.  When you dilute, pour the acid into water, not the other way around.

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