Ventilation system

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Gold Nut

Active member
Joined
Nov 18, 2008
Messages
34
Location
Virginia
With the fumes from the AR process being as dangerous as they are, if done inside, what type of ventilation system should be used? Will the EPA be checking in to see what is going on?
Gold Nut
 
Good fume hood, I would not use Aqua Regia inside any building that had anything of value in it, it would corrode all metal, and can eventually destroy the building, as yet I do all my recovery processes 600 feet from my house under a canopy, I would not do it close to my house, I may build a small shed later for this with proper ventalation but would eventually burn it.
my suggestion to someone new to this is do it outside!
if you won't then use fume hood,in a building you care nothing about.
epa shouldn't check you unless you are a bussiness or give them reason too like complaints from neighbors, or example you were dumping acids into a city sewer line destroying there pipes and a city worker traced them to your house.
if you study the safety, and chemicals, and metal salts you are making and learn how to render them safe, and dispose of them properly epa should not be a problem.
if you live in town where you have neighbors you could even eliminate the fumes, by making a scrubber,
there are many methods to recover gold besides aqua regia and in my opinion safer, less dangerous, and not as harmful to you or your property.
aqua regia is not very good with high base metals most of this would be eliminated with nitric etc. prior to aqua regia, and nitric fumes are very dangerous, corrosive, and noticable.
some of other methods could be used in a garage or shed if done safely and probably with no more tha a small exhaust fan,
I believe this hobby takes alot of study and preperation to be safe and successful, to me that is as important as the little gold accumulated, an education,education can get me farther than a pocket full of gold.
 
there are many methods to recover gold besides aqua regia and in my opinion safer, less dangerous, and not as harmful to you or your property.
some of other methods could be used in a garage or shed if done safely and probably with no more tha a small exhaust fan\


Is the AP method any safer then the AR? and with AP would you be safe with just an exhuast fan?
 
acid peroxide is alot safer than Aqua regia it will not generate the gas that other methods do,
( if too much peroxide or bleach is not used)
if you follow steves recipee.
the Hcl clorox, will generate some clorine gas so a fume hood would be needed, personally I would not use any of these recovery or refining processses where I had tools or metals that I did not want distroyed, I do my work outdoors, acids are corrosive to metals and gasses settle, things get spilled, glasses break,solutions boil over,so unless you had a good fume hood, and a place to do this, with these things in mind I suggest doing it outside, even then catch trays and precautions taken.
at least untill you see how this stuff reacts, many times your solutions can be outdoors working will your inside just checking on them every so often, as in the acid peroxide and air processing. I process about 300 feet from my house, as fumes from some of my processes are strong, of coarse I have enough property to do that, if you live in town where you have a neighbor right in your kitchen window, you may be dropping these fumes into his lap, these are things you must consider depending on your own cituation.
 
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