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Topic: Purifying Hydrochloric Acid? How would I do this, easily?  (Read 3550 times)

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Offline kizm0

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Purifying Hydrochloric Acid? How would I do this, easily?
« on: November 15, 2008, 03:24:35 AM »
Say I have a bottle of 32% hydrochloric acid.  How can I purify it or dry some of it to get up to 36-37% hydrochloric acid.

Offline sjb

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Re: Purifying Hydrochloric Acid? How would I do this, easily?
« Reply #1 on: November 15, 2008, 05:37:11 AM »
Why do you need such a precisely defined concentration of acid?

Offline Arkcon

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Re: Purifying Hydrochloric Acid? How would I do this, easily?
« Reply #2 on: November 15, 2008, 08:28:22 AM »
Probably it's just distilled, the vapor captured, and redissolved in water.  That's an industrial application, not for a smaller lab.  Hydrogen chloride may not be soluble in water, at all temperatures, at that concentration.  For example, constant boiling HCl, used for quantitative analysis, is an azeotrope of ~20 % HCl.  It's actual concentration varies, and is determined first, then it's sealed in an ampule.  You break the seal, and use it promptly, because the HCl fumes away.  Concentrating it by a few percent in the lab will result in you losing more during the manipulation.
Hey, I'm not judging.  I just like to shoot straight.  I'm a man of science.

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