Electrochemistry Emptying the cell

[colibri]

Hello all!

Its been ages since I was last on but I have been experimenting when I get the chance. I had a look and couldn't find anything like this so if there is a post covering it just re direct me.

My cell has been going for over a year and Ive kept the lid on to keep the moisture out . Ive not done that many pins but thought it about time to drain it down and see what Ive got. Now comes the question, its cold at the moment, around 1-2degrees C, when I went to empty the cell I found this in there:




Sorry the pictures didn't turn out too good. Would I be right in saying this is ice?
I was warned sulphuric's love of water and made a note of the level when I filled the bath and I didnt think it had increased in volume, I would have thought that this would have increased the volume quite a bit?

As an aside would it be possible to remove water from sulphuric by freezing it?

cheers

-anthony

 

[nickvc]

Anthony if your cell has been used a lot don't forget that every time you remove the pins you remove a little acid and if the volume has remained the same it's because it's absorbed water from the atmosphere unless you sealed the cell tight. To get rid of the excess water just decant the acid into a beaker and bring up to a high heat and evaporate the water from the acid, cool and place into a sealed container when not in use. Beware hot sulphuric and it's fumes are highly dangerous so use caution when handling and don't breathe the fumes. You can also do the same with your rinses to recover the acid for re use.

 

[colibri]

Thanks Nick but I don't fancy heating up sulphuric and don't really have the facilities to do it safely.

So the big yellow chunk is water then?

 

[Lino1406]

Yes, mostly