# Getting Pure HCL from HCL&Copper Sulfate mix



## Anonymous (Mar 19, 2008)

Hello everyone, I'm a total infant when it comes to Chemical processes, but I thought it would be good to start gathering gold bullion from scrap. I have a good supply of Copper Sulphate & HCL in a mixture that I picked up at an auction(about 5 gallons). My question is how do I get pure HCL from the Copper Sulphate for use in aqua regia? Any help would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## Lou (Mar 19, 2008)

Seems kind of pointless to do...


I suggest you distill out the HCl, it will come over as an azeotrope with water, should be about 31,25% if I remember correctly.

I really don't think it's worth your time, not when it's a 1.80 a gallon at your local home and garden depot.


----------



## Palladium (Mar 19, 2008)

Is that You Aflac ?


----------



## Anonymous (Mar 20, 2008)

I'm not aflac if your talking to me palladium. 

lou --- Hydrocloric Acid is available at home depot? for a $1.80 a gallon? Garden department ? and anyone can just walk in and buy it over the counter? No Chemical license or anything needed?


----------



## Lou (Mar 20, 2008)

Roughly, maybe it's 4 bucks for 2 gallons of 31,25% stuff.


Yep, you can waltz right in and buy it, no questions asked. If they try and get smart with you, ask them if they can read, because it says on the label what it's used for (concrete cleaning).



If you can get a lot (thousands of pounds) of that copper sulfate on a continuous basis, I suggest you refine that copper!!



Lou


----------



## OMG (Mar 20, 2008)

HCl in Canada is 15$ a gallon. I wish it was a buck fifty! That's why I'm trying to find ways to reuse/regenerate HCl.


----------



## Anonymous (Mar 20, 2008)

Concrete cleaner. inventive! Any particular brand? Sorry copper sulphate was a one time deal but now that I know where I can get the good stuff, I'm off to the home depot. Thanks for the tip! Now where do I get the nitric acid? :roll:


----------



## skyline27 (Mar 20, 2008)

There's a place in Wausau, the name escapes me and I can't find the number...


----------



## Anonymous (Mar 20, 2008)

Never mind on the nitric acid I found a source for 70% nitric acid solutions at www.Chemical-supermarket.com $36.95 a bottle for the home chemist.

Next question: How do I mix nitric acid with hydrocloric acid without killing myself or turning the house into a gas chamber?


----------



## Platdigger (Mar 20, 2008)

That's right. You said it. Don't do this in the house!
Randy


----------



## Anonymous (Mar 21, 2008)

how do I get the gold back out of the solution of Nitric acid and Hydrocloric acid? & can I save the solution for additional uses?


----------



## istari9 (Mar 21, 2008)

Mix with SMB solution and the gold drops as a brown power to the bottom rinse ... Look its on the posts. Check it out. 

Ray


----------



## agpodt77339 (Mar 21, 2008)

Lou, where do you buy your muriatic? I cant find it for less than $5.


----------



## Harold_V (Mar 21, 2008)

omnivisone said:


> how do I get the gold back out of the solution of Nitric acid and Hydrocloric acid? & can I save the solution for additional uses?



You obviously don't have a copy of Hoke's book, where all the questions you have are answered in fine detail. I highly recommend you not proceed until you have a copy. 

Harold


----------



## Anonymous (Mar 25, 2008)

Some Drain openers are almost 100% muriatic acid available in dry crystal form. And the are usually quite CHEAP. Only reason I know this is from my Hydrogen generator project...


----------



## peter i (Mar 25, 2008)

Gekoeyes said:


> Some Drain openers are almost 100% muriatic acid available in dry crystal form. And the are usually quite CHEAP. Only reason I know this is from my Hydrogen generator project...



100% HCl is a *gas* at normal temperature and pressure.
As a saturated solution in water it is around *37%* W/W

Quite often it is sold as a 30-32% solution for technical purposes (not as nasty for normal people as the 37% is 8) )

A crystalline grain opener could be sodium hydroxide...


----------



## Irons (Mar 25, 2008)

peter i said:


> Gekoeyes said:
> 
> 
> > Some Drain openers are almost 100% muriatic acid available in dry crystal form. And the are usually quite CHEAP. Only reason I know this is from my Hydrogen generator project...
> ...



You are probably right but to be fair, a hydrate crystaline form of HCl (HCl-H2O) is 68% HCl. I don't think it's stable or avalable over the counter but it can exist.


----------



## Anonymous (Apr 2, 2008)

Hydrochloric acid is made by dissolving hydrogen chloride gas in water. Water will take up 450 times its volume in gas. hydrogen chloride gas can be made in a number of ways one being to burn hydrogen in a chlorine gas atmosphere the other is to combine sulfuric acid and sodium chloride or salt to make the hydrogen chloride it would then be collected and made to bubble up through distilled water. Hydrochloric acid is produced in solutions up to 38% HCl (concentrated grade). Higher concentrations up to just over 40% are chemically possible, but the evaporation rate is then so high that storage and handling need extra precautions, such as pressure and low temperature. Bulk industrial-grade is therefore 30% to 34%, optimized for effective transport and limited product loss by HCl vapors. oh and thanks for the homedepot tip im going to go check there tomorrow I been over paying for mine thats why I looked into making it my self


----------



## Irons (Apr 2, 2008)

You can use the H2SO4/NaCl method to generate HCl gas and bubble it through weaker HCl to boost it up to 38%.


----------



## Claudie (Jun 11, 2011)

That's what I was thinking.


----------

