AustralianPyromaniac Posted May 27 Posted May 27 There's no easy way to make barium nitrate without nitric acid. What country are you located in, and what starting chemicals do you have access to?
Arthur Posted May 27 Posted May 27 (edited) Nitric acid is made commercially at conditions you can't make without skill and lots of money (200+bar and 600+C and interesting catalysts,meaning big compressors and special alloy steels). The old way of making nitric was the bio way! Aerobic digestion of urine loaded animal waste yielding sodium nitrate then treatment with wood ash to ppt out potassium nitrate. and remember that it's the nitrate in compost that makes plants grow next year, you can't take nitrate out AND use nitrate for the garden! Youtuber Andreas the alchemist (www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNRAraOZrE4) demonstrates a successful development of the Berkeland Eyde process making nitric acid from the atmosphere. However most people making an amateur berkeland eyde machine make only grams per month making the electricity cost per gram of product rather extreme. If you have sulphuric acid and lab glassware you can take Potassium Nitrate and conc sulphuric acid and distil off nitric acid leaving potassium sulphate behind. Perfect in small quantities. For barium salts you first need a source of any barium salt, then consider how to convert it to a useful salt. Most pyro useful compounds are insoluble. Edited May 27 by Arthur spling
tim2985 Posted May 27 Author Posted May 27 I came upon this interesting article... http://www.pyrosociety.org.uk/forum/topic/1061-barium-carbonate-barium-nitrate/
AustralianPyromaniac Posted May 28 Posted May 28 Very interesting! I have never seen this method, but it does make sense. The main issue would be how much barium is lost in the solution, but barium salts, at least here, are reasonably cheap. Still, I think if you can find nitric acid, that would be a better method. Nitric acid in Australia is hard to find, but it is possible. In Europe, I believe it's not sold at all and is illegal.
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