Silk Road forums
Discussion => Drug safety => Topic started by: newhorizen on September 11, 2012, 05:01 am
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Below is an excert from TEK on making anhydrous acetone (acetone with no water) from hardware store acetone:
Secondly, we're going to need anhydrous acetone. You can easily turn hardware store acetone into anhydrous acetone with the simple process I've outlined below. To do this, you'll need to go to Home Depot or Lowes and get the following items: a 1 liter can of acetone, a bag of epsom salts, and a bottle of 31% muriatic acid.
Now, heat some epsom salts on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet in the oven for 2 hours at 400 degrees F. After 2 hours of heating, the epsom salts have now been turned into anhydrous magnesium sulphate. Crazy huh?
Now, take 10-20 grams of your greyish ash looking anhydrous magnesium sulphate and pour it directly into your can of hardware store acetone. Now, shake the can vigorously for a few minutes to circulate the magnesium sulphate and then let it settle for 24 hours. The magnesium sulphate will absorb all of the water and/or alcohol from the hardware store acetone and sink it to the bottom of the can where it shall remain forever.
Therefore from now on, never pour from the can, instead use a glass eye dropper or glass pipette (glass straw) to reach down inside of the can to extract however much anhydrous acetone you'll be requiring. Always stay away from the bottom of the can. Once the can get's about half way down, discard and repeat the process with a fresh can of acetone. Always use glass hardware when using acetone. Acetone will melt plastic.
Does anyone know if this would work to make 95% plus ethanol from a high proof liquor like everclear ? I do not plan on this being for human consumption . I plan on using it as a solvent for purifying street drugs and do not want the dyes and additives that is in hardware store denatured ethanol.
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Yeah I do not think that will work with ethanol. I recommend you find some denatured alchohol.
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I had the feeling it would not work too! I am certainly no chemist so my only solution to the problem is to beg for information!
I have heard that hardcore drunks pour denatured alcohol through wonder bread to make it more drinkable. Does anyone know a simple way to filter the crude they put in denatured alcohol to make it more useable as a solvent to purify street drugs?
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Well there is this http://www.deconlabs.com/products.php?ID=88 but you need a permit to buy it.
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Looking all over the net and anhydrous ethanol is very hard to find unless it is denatured. Also remember that ethanol is hydroscopic so even if you found some it would pull water out of the air as soon as it was opened. you may just have to go with the everclear and see how that goes.
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Ok after some research I have found a way to "dry" the ethanol. Looks like using CaO or calcium oxide commonly known as lime you can get out the bulk of the water. Ethanol can be further purified by "drying" it using lime (calcium oxide) or using a hygroscopic material such as rocksalt. When lime is mixed with the water in ethanol, calcium hydroxide forms. The calcium hydroxide can then be separated from the ethanol. Similarly, a hygroscopic material will dissolve some of the water content of the ethanol as it passes through, leaving a purer alcohol.
I hope that helps.
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Ok, thanks man. I am assuming by adding lime and thus forming the calcium hydroxide by then letting the ethanol sit in a container over night the calcium hydroxide will settle at the bottom. Then I can take a pipette and gently take the top clean layers and I will have a dryer ethanol.
Not sure how close it will get 140 proof everclear(I don't think my state has the 170proof :() to the desired 95%/5% ethanol/water mix. I have seen video of old moonshiners judging proof by the beading of air bubbles in booze?
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These other methods will give a denatured product thus if absolute anhydrous pure ethanol must be prepared this is the most common method:
Ethanol can't not be distilled past 95percent ethanol 5 percent water as it forms an binary azeotrope which gives the same composition upon distillation
However, you can prepare absolute anhydrous ethanol by taking advantage of another azeotrope a ternary one of 7.5%water/ 18.5% ethanol/ 74%benzene
For instance add 150 g of your ethanol water mixture than add 74 g of benzene in slight excess distill at 64.9 C. this leaves 124 grams of absolute anhydrous ethanol
Oops, I forgot to mention if you want to remove the slightest trace of water after it's been sitting awhile, you should treat the solution with metallic magnesium then distill it.