31 replies to this topic

[pyroman89]

As the title says is it possible to make potassium nitrate from ammonium nitrate? I was thinking of potassium chloride with ammonium nitrate ( when I say with I dont me just mixed together ). Now if this was to work with the potassium chloride which is a salt substitute and also has the following ingredients: potassium chloride, potassium bitartrate, adipic acid, silicon dioxide, mineral oil and fumaric acid. Would any of those ingredients effect the results? Also if potassium choride does not work could I use sodium chloride because I dont mind having sodium nitrate. There are a few comps I want to try that use sodium nitrate.

Thank you

[YT2095]

I make mine from wood ash and garden lime, mix the 2 in bucket with water, allow the sediment to settle and add the liquid portion to the ammonium nitrate.
let this evaporate outside in a shallow vessel as it gives off ammonia gas. eventually KNO3 crystals form.

I have a very large allotment garden so I get plenty dead wood to burn at the end of the year, and the chili plants love the KNO3

you could use K2SO4 and garden lime instead if you don`t have wood ash, and then follow the same proceedure.
you`ll need a recrystalisation after if you want it pure, I don`t bother, I just feed it to my plants as it is.

[marble]

Usually if you can buy a bag of AN you should be able to buy a bag of kno3

Its a lot of effort for a smallish yield

[YT2095]

it is effort sure, and only really worth it if you make it several gallons at a time (such as I do).
it`s Good basic chemistry, and not without an element of satisfaction either.

I usually make about 2 kilo a year and that lasts me throughout the growing season until next year when I make more, and it only costs about 70p to make (and time).
and in my case it doesn`t really matter if you get the odd dead fly or whatever in it.

[marble]

Extra satisfaction when you make it

I love kno3 crystals, nice and long and they look great in a jar

http://www.skepticfi.../new/027doc.htm

Anyone done anything like that before?

[YT2095]

Similar yes, and you Don`t need the alcohol at all except if you want Instant results, other than that it`s a waste.
I used well rotted horse manure (weathered for a few years), and a bucket full of the ash.

it`s a good idea to add some garden lime too, it converts the K2CO3 to KOH and leaves CaCO3 as waste.

a similar thing is done in caves somewhere in south america using Bat Crap, it`s also high in Nitrates.

[Bonny]

I've got a small pile of cow manure mixed with some plant matter and ashes at the lake. It's also been getting "sprinkled on" by me over the last two summers. I might finish the experiment this fall using a method similar to that described above. I already have quite a lot of KNO3 though, which is why I'm not in a rush to deal with this one.

PS: I guess you have still not found a supply of KNO3 pyroman89?

Edited by Bonny, 13 August 2007 - 03:06 PM.

[pyroman89]

Thank you for all the help. YT2095 I have done it that way, but I wanted to use my ammonium nitrate for something. Bonny I could not find any potassium nitrate, the only one I found was calcium nitrate. Marble that is the website I used to try to make potassium nitrate. So it is possible to make potassium nitrate from ammonium nitrate could someone explain how? Or sodium nitrate?


Thank you

[YT2095]

dude, with all due respect, I`ve told you how to make KNO3 from your AN

but 1`st you will NEED to make KOH, and that is explained also.

don`t bother with the amchlor method or the amcarb, you want something simple that take no real purification after, so you START pure.

have a re-read bro, it`ll make sense then

[pyroman89]

Sorry about that i'am kind of new to chemistry. But I have one last question. I have heard that you could react sodium hydroxide with ammonium nitrate in ice water to get sodium nitrate, is this possible?

Thank you

[rocket]

I think it would be but you will get a lot of NH3 (ammonia) given off.

I think it would be something like this (just a ruff guess)

NaOH + NH4NO3 > NaNO3 + NH3 + H2O

Please correct me it I'm wrong which I most likely am.

[seymour]

Yup, and then you will get an Ammonia/Ammonium hydroxide and Sodium nitrate solution. You can then boil away the water and Ammonia and you will be left with Sodium nitrate. I might be wrong about this though, in which case the more chemistry minded members will no doubt kindly correct me Potassium nitrate is quite easy to find if you know where to look, which can be tricky if you have little experience sourcing chemicals. Perhaps if you tell us roughly where you are from we could help you more.


Rocket, you beat me to it! I had a feeling someone might

Edited by seymour, 14 August 2007 - 08:32 AM.

[YT2095]

Rocket , Seymour; You`re both 100% correct

I would question Why you`de need to do this in ice water as adding water to AN will go extremely cold anyway and can indeed freeze solid.
secondly Why would you want Sodium nitrate?
it`s Useless for pyro, it`ll pull water from the air, and the only color you`ll ever get from any comp using it will be Yellow,

it`s Potassium Nitrate you want, not sodium.

[Bonny]

[quote name='YT2095' date='Aug 14 2007, 08:50 AM' post='37003']
Rocket , Seymour; You`re both 100% correct

I would question Why you`de need to do this in ice water as adding water to AN will go extremely cold anyway and can indeed freeze solid.

AN and water are used in "instant cold packs" for first aid. When the water bag inside is broken the two combine to produce the cold temp.

[pyroman89]

Rocket , Seymour; You`re both 100% correct

I would question Why you`de need to do this in ice water as adding water to AN will go extremely cold anyway and can indeed freeze solid.
secondly Why would you want Sodium nitrate?
it`s Useless for pyro, it`ll pull water from the air, and the only color you`ll ever get from any comp using it will be Yellow,

it`s Potassium Nitrate you want, not sodium.

I have had sodium nitrate before just a little of it but it never clumped together. I even left some in open container and it still never clumped together. For the ice water doesn't sodium hydroxide heat up when in the water. So that is why I was think start with ice water. I also figured that it would give off ammonia gas.
Thank you everyone.