I believe it seems to be just the fact that the solution conducts electricity that counts .. that it is an electrolyte. Any more knowledgeable member can correct me if it seems "obviously wrong".
Oily black deposit?? Oily implies (usually) a covalent substance (though not always). The reaction of rust removal seems awfully ionic. Could you repeat again .. where exactly the oily stuff forms ... and as a result of WHAT ... that it forms?? A water solution of Sodium Chloride ... electrolysed ... bubbles hydrogen gas at the negative terminal .... chlorine at the positive ... just like hydrogen fuel generation. The Sodium of the Sodium Chloride .. combines with the -OH radical of the water ... and forms a solution of Sodium Hydroxide (Lye). A background reaction that also takes place is that some of the Chlorine ... bubbling through the resulting sodium hydroxide .. forms sodium hypochlorite (clorox). The hydrogen .... "burned" in an atmosphere of chlorine .. forms hydrogen chloride ... which is QUICKLY absorbed by water ... forming a solution of HYDROCHLORIC ACID. Hope that helps. Sorry to take so long to reply to this thread. Curtis Get your free newsletter at http://www.ezinfocenter.com/3122155/NL ----- Original Message ----- From: Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> So maybe it's the sodium that counts. Did you try plain salt? With washing soda, do you also get the oily black deposit, and do you know what it is? Dunno if you remember this, on making NaOH from table salt. http://cator.hsc.edu/~kmd/caveman/projects/chloralkali/slideshow/index.html You end up with hydrogen and chlorine, which I guess you could turn into hydrochloric acid, not sure quite how though (nor how to concentrate it after that). Anyone have any ideas on that? You'd end up with more table salt - sodium chloride instead of sodium phosphate - which you could turn into more NaOH. Does that make any sense? This might help close the loop, and phosphoric is expensive. Traditionally soapstock is acidulated with strong sulphuric acid, but since phosphoric works just as well HCl should be okay, though I'm not sure about safety considerations. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Make Money Online Auctions! Make $500.00 or We Will Give You Thirty Dollars for Trying! http://us.click.yahoo.com/yMx78A/fNtFAA/i5gGAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
