The power supply I usually use is out of action
I REALLY hope all thats wrong is a blown fuse, since that I can fix no problem, if its not, then its more than I can manage, although since its actually my old man's power supply, that he has effectively loaned it to me for as long as I want to use it, whenever I want it he'd have a crack at fixing it. I just hope none of the circuitry is damaged.
Its a real kick in the balls, since I've been using it a LOT recently, any time I can't sleep andplenty otimes I'll get up and go fiddle around with electrolytic cell configurations and other electrolytic procedures. At the moment I'm trying to isolate manganese metal starting from batteries, (its present as a mixture of MnO2 and a lot of carbon black), by gutting the batteries, removing the black portion(s) and digesting them in 98% sulfuric acid to give manganese (II) sulfate, which is water soluble whilst the carbon black isn't affected by such treatment, then allowing the acidic manganese salt solution to settle, almost all the carbon black falls to the bottom of the beaker, allowing the manganese solution to be decanted off (filter paper would be a bad idea since carbon vlank is a nightmare to filter properly, and filter papers REALLY are incompatible with sulfuric acid of that strength, it just liquefies them at first contact then chars them to little more than ashes because its such a powerful dehydrating agent. Neutralizing the acid using sodium hydroxide re-precipitates the manganese, changing it from the sulfate salt to the insoluble manganese (II) hydroxide( Mn(OH)2
Still trying to get the metal itself from its compounds. I may, if all else fails, resort to one of those brute force reactions that involve using using a more reactive metal, plus a less reactive metal oxide, same principle as the thermite reaction, a redox rxn between aluminium dust and iron oxide, the Al rips the oxygen from the iron oxide becoming Al2O3 in the process and leaving behind the aforementioned aluminium oxide as a slag, and molten iron, accompanied by a shower of sparks and extremely intense heat, in the case of the classic iron oxide-aluminium based thermite, whilst difficult to ignire (the common way is to use a strip of magnesium ribbon as a fuse, light the end with a blowtorch and then stand back and wait for the Mg ribbon to burn down until it contacts the area of the thermite its dipped into and sets it alight. Once lit, it isn't something you can put out, and it generates enough heat that it will (and is used for) burn through through and weld train tracks.
Effectively, since it requires no external oxygen and generates such an intense heat you can't put them out once started. So one best make sure they are where you want one first, because fire extinguishers, most of them would either act as fuel (such as CO2 being split apart into C and O2, further burning. All you can do, unless its a very very small charge that can be dispersed physically over a wide area and as such burn out near instantly, is stand back and wait for it to burn itself out.
I've got plenty of both fine magnesium and a good deal of ultrafine micronized aluminium (max. particle size 30 microns) that are ideal for metallothermic reductions of oxides to the corresponding metals. I've never actually seen manganese in the elemental state before, I've only ever seen pictures. I'll have to check reduction potentials and the reactivity series for Mn and carbon too, just in case its possible to perform a carbothermic reduction (essentially carbon thermite, using elemental carbon in fine powder form to reduce metal oxides, forms a lot less slag than metallothermic reductions given the oxides of carbon, at least common ones, carbon monoxide and dioxide are both gaseous)
That would be kind of neat, if I could simply wash away impurities using concentrated sulfuric acid,, quench the acid with NaOH or KOH and theredoing obtain Mn(OH)2 as insoluble fraction and wash away residual acid after decanting most of the remainder, the potassium sulfate or sodium sulfate for use as nutrient component of any bio work involving needing.culturing for potasssium suplementation as well as sulfur, or after conversion to KCl, using it for certain organisms I have an interest that need an insane amount of osmotic pressure in the production stage type growth media (Claviceps purpurea, rye ergot. It likes a truly nutty amount of osmotic pressure in the medium grown in, to the extent that somebody once thought, a uni worker ressearching it, that
'30g sucrose/1l' would be the correct quantity and thought to correct what she thought a spelling error. Because what was actually called for was three hundred grams of sugars per liter! many microorganisms wouldn't survive that let alone actually thrive best in such a huge concentration of sugars and salts.
I want my three-channel power supply back working and I want is yesterday
I did have another supply but it was just a measly 12v 5 amp supply and it had a short auto-cutout rather than overload protection, and it just kept cutting out when beungused for molten salt electrolysis, and in any case, it died shrieking after having the sorts of loads put on it that I did more or less every time I used it. Whilst this one thats down atm can deliver a fairly reasonable if a bit modest 35 amps.
I think I will invest in an arc-welding MIG/TIG setup actually and install some additional current/voltage regulatory circuitry for things like constant current output. Plus additional transformers for when I wish to vary the voltage, heat things via induction etc.
The ability to do proper welding of materials such as steel and titanium (the latter needing an inert gas however because titanium is actually fairly reactive and can catch fire and burn with an intense heat. Metal fires suck balls too, and need specialized fire extinguishers to put them out.
