I use distillation for much of my work (not all), I also capture the red fumes as much as possible when dissolving metals in nitric acid, the nice thing as garage chemist stated is the temperature can be raised to boiling (I keep mine forming small bubbles not large bumping bubbles), and as long as you carefully watch for foam over or carry over, the metals stay in the heated reaction vessel (color of condensed liquids are also a clue you are getting carry-over), the fumes if condensed in very little water and H202 for NOx gas into the receiver bottle the acid can be reused as dilute HNO3, this saves me from wasting my acid, and from dumping NOx gases into the atmosphere that the EPA has tried so hard to eliminate (which creates acid rains), I am no tree hugger but I do care for our earth and the air we breath, even the HCl or aqua regia can be distilled (bubbled into water to make a weak solution, which can be reused with heating its action on metals and heat concentrating solution, it works well.
The small amount of gold added to aqua regia to use up excess nitric is nice when you do not want to evaporate just a little heat and let it react, very little fumes are released (normal amount for gold being dissolved), it is quick and easy, and you get your gold back.
What works for me also, is to calculate how much acid I need, calculating just under this amount needed to dissolve the gold, and measure my solutions,
(I can even use the 4 HCl : 1 HNO3 ratio if wanted, although normally just add HCL then adding in small additions), add a small portion of solution to metals with heating, add more as needed, the goal is to leave a small amount of metal un-dissolved with strong heat, and plenty reaction time (this portion of saturated solution is decanted from remaining metal), (the small amount of metal left is then dissolved, usually with just covered in HCl and the drops of nitric added as needed, and with heating (heat is an important part as more metal is reacted with acid with heat, and these hot solutions hold more metal salts, even if I over shoot on this last bit of metal I am dissolving, and use a bit more acid than necessary it is simpler to remove any excess nitric if I made a mistake.
I agree 100% with garage chemist, but I also think if we tell someone to distill their solution then we can explain that the solution can boil, actually when I distill I normally do not want large bubbles popping and splashing, but just want my temperature where lots of little tiny bubbles form (less carryover), also when distilling (or even evaporating in dish with watch glass) as the solutions concentration changes, from gases leaving the system, the temperature (or boiling point changes as this progresses), and if you are not closely monitoring the POT, so then keeping the temperature lower when using either of these methods is best, as you may get a boil over when you turn your back.
Solutions will vapor of gases way below the boiling point of that solution so a lower temperature does no harm, it just takes more time.
I do have a brand new distilling glass lab set still in the box and never got it wet, but I do use my home made distilling rigs, the sand bath and pickle jar has distilled many gallons of solution, so I just keep using it, I also have a coffee pot Pyrex, it looks similar to a flask (wider mouth) with a handle, I made a Teflon cork and use a hose and distill with it sitting on an electric hotplate in a casserole dish (no sand used).
That store bought distilling rig is just too pretty to use.
The small amount of gold added to aqua regia to use up excess nitric is nice when you do not want to evaporate just a little heat and let it react, very little fumes are released (normal amount for gold being dissolved), it is quick and easy, and you get your gold back.
What works for me also, is to calculate how much acid I need, calculating just under this amount needed to dissolve the gold, and measure my solutions,
(I can even use the 4 HCl : 1 HNO3 ratio if wanted, although normally just add HCL then adding in small additions), add a small portion of solution to metals with heating, add more as needed, the goal is to leave a small amount of metal un-dissolved with strong heat, and plenty reaction time (this portion of saturated solution is decanted from remaining metal), (the small amount of metal left is then dissolved, usually with just covered in HCl and the drops of nitric added as needed, and with heating (heat is an important part as more metal is reacted with acid with heat, and these hot solutions hold more metal salts, even if I over shoot on this last bit of metal I am dissolving, and use a bit more acid than necessary it is simpler to remove any excess nitric if I made a mistake.
I agree 100% with garage chemist, but I also think if we tell someone to distill their solution then we can explain that the solution can boil, actually when I distill I normally do not want large bubbles popping and splashing, but just want my temperature where lots of little tiny bubbles form (less carryover), also when distilling (or even evaporating in dish with watch glass) as the solutions concentration changes, from gases leaving the system, the temperature (or boiling point changes as this progresses), and if you are not closely monitoring the POT, so then keeping the temperature lower when using either of these methods is best, as you may get a boil over when you turn your back.
Solutions will vapor of gases way below the boiling point of that solution so a lower temperature does no harm, it just takes more time.
I do have a brand new distilling glass lab set still in the box and never got it wet, but I do use my home made distilling rigs, the sand bath and pickle jar has distilled many gallons of solution, so I just keep using it, I also have a coffee pot Pyrex, it looks similar to a flask (wider mouth) with a handle, I made a Teflon cork and use a hose and distill with it sitting on an electric hotplate in a casserole dish (no sand used).
That store bought distilling rig is just too pretty to use.
