# Nitric Acid 70% Technical Grade vs Nitric acid 68% - 70% ACS



## kadriver (Dec 24, 2010)

Can some one please explain the difference between these two "Grades" of acids.

Are they both suitable for the small refiner?

I know that ACS stands for American Chemical Standards.

But what is the real difference between "Technical Grade" and "ACS Reagent Grade".

I buy my 70% Technical Grade acid from artchemicals.com at $114 per 2.5 liter bottle delivered.

According to the forum, and i've looked it up, I can buy 6 - 2.5 liter bottles of 70% ACS Reagent grade Nitric Acid from bcscientific.com for $204.75 (plus shipping).

6 bottles of 70% Technical grade nitric acid from art chemicals would cost me $684.00 !!

Is ACS Reagent grade 70% Nitric acid suitable for refining purposes?

Are there any negative consequences for using ACS Reagent grade 70% Nitric acid as opposed to using Technical grade acid?

Thanks to all - kadriver


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## Harold_V (Dec 24, 2010)

Reagent grade is a way of describing high quality---acid without contamination. I used reagent grade HCl for washing my re-refined gold. 
Reagent grade nitric is recommended for making testing solutions, to insure that you aren't contaminating the solution with an unwanted substance. In a sense, you can consider it chemically pure. 

Lou may add to these comments, thanks to his education and current involvement with the use of acids. Terminology may well have changed since I was last involved. 

It numbs the mind to think that they can repackage tech grade nitric and resale it for prices that exceed that of reagent acids. Goes to show how badly the consumer is getting screwed.

Harold


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## Barren Realms 007 (Dec 25, 2010)

Or you can make your own. The last 2 liters I made yesterday cost me all of $10-12.00 and maybe an hour invested. You can make 2-5 gals in pretty much the same time frame other than the filtering which dosent take that much longer. It's all in a matter of what you are looking for.


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## kadriver (Dec 25, 2010)

If I buy 6 - 2.5 liter bottles of ACS Reagent grade nitric acid for refining gold and silver in my shop, would I be making a mistake?

Can anyone show me a process that will enable me to make chemically pure 70% nitric acid for my refining purposes?

Thank you - kadriver


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## Barren Realms 007 (Dec 25, 2010)

kadriver said:


> If I buy 6 - 2.5 liter bottles of ACS Reagent grade nitric acid for refining gold and silver in my shop, would I be making a mistake?
> 
> Can anyone show me a process that will enable me to make chemically pure 70% nitric acid for my refining purposes?
> 
> Thank you - kadriver





lazersteve said:


> _Bring 100 mL of Distilled Water in a 500 mL Pyrex beaker to 100 C
> -Add the Nitre of your choice (202 gm K / 170 gm Na)
> -Stir until Nitre is completely dissolved, let cool below boiling
> -SLOWLY add 56 mL conc (96%+) Sulfuric Acid to Hot Nitre solution while stirring, DON'T allow the solution to boil!
> ...


_

http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=315&start=20

This formula will give you nitric that will do anything you want. It is supposed to be 30-35%._


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## kadriver (Dec 25, 2010)

Ok, Thanks.


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## Harold_V (Dec 26, 2010)

kadriver said:


> If I buy 6 - 2.5 liter bottles of ACS Reagent grade nitric acid for refining gold and silver in my shop, would I be making a mistake?


Not so far as quality is concerned. However, if you can make the right connections, you can purchase nitric far cheaper. Tech grade serves perfectly well for refining, and can by purchased in the area of $4/gallon, with the right connections. GSP recently purchased two 55 gallon drums for under $4/gallon. 

Harold


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## dtectr (Dec 26, 2010)

Harold_V said:


> kadriver said:
> 
> 
> > If I buy 6 - 2.5 liter bottles of ACS Reagent grade nitric acid for refining gold and silver in my shop, would I be making a mistake?
> ...


Terrace Chemicals, 2820 SW Blvd, Kansas City, MO - I bought 2 gals., 67% last week for $16.50/gal. It was a 50 mile drive, but saved nearly $50 in shipping.


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## qst42know (Dec 26, 2010)

dtectr

This is the purchase Harold was refering to, in a more recent thread. 

http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=8454&p=80642&hilit=drum+deposit#p80642


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## kadriver (Dec 27, 2010)

This is great info - thanks to all who responded.


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## brjook (Dec 28, 2010)

Go to duda deisel they got 4 2.5 liter of 68% for 185.00 plus i think 25 for hazmat shipping


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## goldsilverpro (Dec 29, 2010)

brjook said:


> Go to duda deisel they got 4 2.5 liter of 68% for 185.00 plus i think 25 for hazmat shipping



I know reasonably priced nitric is hard for you guys to find but, to me, $80+/gal is a ridiculously high price.


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## lazersteve (Dec 29, 2010)

That is way too high.

Steve


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## Lou (Dec 29, 2010)

Nitric should be about $3-4/gallon at ~68-71% technical grade. ACS grade should be about 2.5X that in bulk. Likewise with HCl (although that's more expensive because it's harder to purify and keep pure). 

Anyway, American Chemical Society certified grade reagents aren't really needed for what we're trying to do here. 
Biggest difference you'd notice between tech nitric and ACS nitric is no opalescence with silver.

Lou


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## kadriver (Feb 2, 2011)

I finally found the information I was looking for:

ACS grade is refined to a higher level of purity (as stated above).

But, as stated above, tech grade is suitable for refining purposes.

I went ahead & ordered 6 - 2.5 liter bottles from bcscientific.com - thats about $90 per gallon which I know is too high, but I don't have another source yet.

I was buying from ArtChemicals.com - $114 per 2.5 liter bottle delivered.

Anyway - I ordered from bcscientific.com on Monday, it arrived on Wednesday. $310.00 total cost including hazmat fee & shipping.

They called me before they shipped and explained that due to company policy, they could not ship to a residential address - it had to be a commercial address.

This is the cheapest acid I could find. I will continue to look for a local source that I can pick-up & save myself the shipping fees.

kadriver


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