separating SN from curing salt

[teajay1]

hello, i've done some research here and found a couple ways to extract the SN out of curing salt. the method involving coffee filters and boiling seem pretty straight forward. is this a reliable way to get SN? or should i just look for a source(or alternative method)?

thank you :)

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I think it's better to look for a source (or an alternative method). That's what I would do.

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[damyon]

Hi, welcome to the Forum!

Since you are asking that question, I believe you are not a professional chemist, and there are a multitude of ways the separation process can go wrong. I obviously do not doubt your abilities, but as Praestat_Mori noted, its better to just look for a source.

~~~
Although, I would not mind doing that myself out of sheer curiosity...

 

[teajay1]

okay. i won't bother then. thank you:)

 

[usernamenoonecares]

hello, i've done some research here and found a couple ways to extract the SN out of curing salt. the method involving coffee filters and boiling seem pretty straight forward. is this a reliable way to get SN? or should i just look for a source(or alternative method)?

thank you :)

What are the methods? Would you mind sharing?

 

[[..redacted..]]

What are the methods? Would you mind sharing?

If you have some basic chemistry knowledge there's a lengthy discussion here:

Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Separation of sodium nitrite from sodium chloride - Powered by XMB 1.9.11

Tl;dr it's not straightforward since both salt and SN are highly soluble in water. Concentration and filtering will always leave a significant amount of salt behind and the other method proposed (forming an alkyl nitrite, distilling and converting back to the sodium salt) isn't feasible for a home chemist without lab equipment and some practical chemistry experience.

 

[usernamenoonecares]

If you have some basic chemistry knowledge there's a lengthy discussion here:

Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Separation of sodium nitrite from sodium chloride - Powered by XMB 1.9.11

Tl;dr it's not straightforward since both salt and SN are highly soluble in water. Concentration and filtering will always leave a significant amount of salt behind and the other method proposed (forming an alkyl nitrite, distilling and converting back to the sodium salt) isn't feasible for a home chemist without lab equipment and some practical chemistry experience.

how about sodium nitrate to sodium nitrite

 

[[..redacted..]]

how about sodium nitrate to sodium nitrite

To achieve this you have to reduce the sodium nitrate (NaNO3) to the nitrite (NaNO2). The classical method uses molten lead and isn't really practical at home. Alternate methods using carbon as the reducing agent have low yield and produce a very impure product with a lot of cleanup needed.

Probably the most practical for a home chemist is the solid state reduction of sodium nitrate with calcium sulfite:



It can reportedly be done adequately in a toaster oven. The purity of the result is a bit questionable and will definitely still include some nitrate. It'll also take some work and dedication to get a reasonable end result.

Other routes exist and you can find them on YouTube but they are more complicated and can be difficult to scale up to 50-100g quantities.

 

[usernamenoonecares]

To achieve this you have to reduce the sodium nitrate (NaNO3) to the nitrite (NaNO2). The classical method uses molten lead and isn't really practical at home. Alternate methods using carbon as the reducing agent have low yield and produce a very impure product with a lot of cleanup needed.

Probably the most practical for a home chemist is the solid state reduction of sodium nitrate with calcium sulfite:



It can reportedly be done adequately in a toaster oven. The purity of the result is a bit questionable and will definitely still include some nitrate. It'll also take some work and dedication to get a reasonable end result.

Other routes exist and you can find them on YouTube but they are more complicated and can be difficult to scale up to 50-100g quantities.

not gonna lie, it looks fun.