This is going to be a fast entry. I've only got a few minutes before I have to leave for work. Work sucks. Remember a brilliant axiom, courtesy of Dilbert. The next time a coworker says anything remotely like "This is a blast!" immediately ask him or her "So you'd do it for free?" "Well, no..." "Then it's not fun."

That's the definition of something fun; you'd seek it out and do it free of charge. Therefore, paid work, with rare exception, is not fun. But we do seek out experiments in Pyrotechnic... those are fun!

The speed of the super-cell was amazing. Using 1/2 recycled electrolyte, and 1/2 fresh KCl solution, I had a thick crystal layer within hours, and this batch, as seen here, took less than 48 hours. With eveything shut down, the crop can be clearly seen on the bottom. Because this cell saw constant agitation, I expected the crystals to be a bit finer, and they are. Separating the crystals from the liquor can be a real pain! The first step is to allow as much of the electrolyte to drain as possible. Here's one easy method:

From there, it is a matter of scooping out the crystals without snorting too much chlorine and hypochlorite. A section of PVC rod works well. Then, portion-wise, they are placed in a filtered funnel, washed first with ice cold H₂O, and then alcohol. The alcohol wets the crystals, carries off clinging water, and speeds drying.

One thing I am trying to improve is the washing of the crystals. For now, it's coffee filters and ice water, but a coffee filter only holds maybe 80 grams, so it becomes a very repetitive and tedious task. Scoop crystals into the filter and funnel, wash, empty the filter, repeat. One option might be some sort of threaded port in the bottom of the cell that can be opened so as to allow the liquor to drain by gravity. Then, washings with ice cold water with the crystals still in the cell would quickly clean off clinging electrolyte, which is still heavy with chlorides and various chlorite species.

Keep in mind that the washings, as well as any leftovers from recrystallizations, do not go to waste. They are resaturated with KCl and go right back into the cell, so while it's no fun seeing your crystals dissolve in the cold washing water, at least the "lost" KClO₃, really isn't.

The weight of this batch after drying is a record for me, only 20 grams shy of a kilo. The good news is, this is the first batch that I've truly logged and analyzed as far as current, starting chloride, ending chloride, etc. and it will allow me to do a bit of analysis, and calculate the efficiency of the cell.

The acrylic tower is slightly fogged in the area near the electrodes; otherwise, it's in good shape.

I've pondered this process for a long time now (can you tell? ) and I've come to a conclusion. It is very easy to get carried away with materials. I now know the correct answer for the ultimate cell, and it is easy, cheap, and available. It's PVC... plain PVC sheet and/or pipe. The ONLY drawback is that you can't see inside. Big deal. Seriously, you don't need to. It's fun, but it is NOT worth the hassle of cells breaking down, melting, dissolving, and from what I have both read, and what I've seen, PVC type I is one of the best possible plastics for this chemistry. Also, PVC is child's play to work with compared to many other plastics, can be solvent welded, cut with ease, and as I mentioned, best of all, it's relatively inexpensive. You can make big cells, too, and that's where it's at, production. The hard part is processing the harvest, and the work is the same whether it's 100 grams or 5 kilos.

What allows an opaque cell quite simply is being able to analyze the electrolyte. As the chloride content goes down, the chlorate content rises by an equimolar amount. It's that simple. The Hach chloride strips make this very easy, unless you just like to do a lot of titrations. Take small samples occasionally, watch the chloride, then pull the plug when it's done.

I'll try to work up some sort of big, cheap, PVC cell for the next run. In the meantime, I have enough chlorate, and want to start perchlorate conversion, as well as experimenting with PbO2 anodes, as I had originally intended.