Frozen vinager

[raddksn]

I keep a small plastic jar(6 oz.or so)of vinager 5% around for cleaning small rusted parts. Thanks to the recent cold snap most of the jar is a block of ice with a small amount of liquid. I assume the ice is water and liquid is the acid? My question is can I get a gallon of vinager and consintrate the acid out by freezing the water, and is there an advantage or danger in doing so?

Thanks this gang has never steered me wrong yet!

 

[dynahoe]

check out citric acid for rust removal and it smells better.the ford barn had some threads on this versus mollasses

 

[skylab]

White vinegar is stronger when its hot. Vinegar will also freeze.

 

[rburke65]

What is the difference between the white and the cider vinegar?

 

[skylab]

White vinegar is stronger.

 

[oldNbold]

You can also buy cleaning vinegar which is a different strength. It is listed as 6% acid.

 

[mitusa]

I like vinegar on my spinach!

 

[404]

I like vinegar on my spinach!

Also helps remove pesky tooth enamel.

 

[DenisG]

http://www.alchemywebsite.com/distillation_of_vinegar.html

 

[CNGsaves]

I like vinegar on Ex-wife's spinach!

^ ^ Fixed it for 'ya !!

 

[kbs2244]

Yes, the ice is the water and you now have stronger acid.
It is called "freeze distilling." (Vs. boiling.)

As a kid, we used to do it with beer.
It taught you all about "lite" beer.

 

[Jawn]

Also helps remove pesky tooth enamel.

Sad but true. Must be why my teeth are so bad. Mmm, NC BBQ!

 

[rlitman]

What is the difference between the white and the cider vinegar?

Taste mostly.

Is there an advantage in freeze distilling vinegar: Not really.
Is there a danger in doing this: Not much, though the fumes do get a little dangerous as you go up in concentration (like ammonia).

The issue with acetic acid is that the pH actually rises as you concentrate it beyond a certain point, because the dissociation is reduced with the lessening amount of water. This is why glacial acetic acid (distilled to the point of minimum water present, though not truly anhydrous) becomes a stronger acid as water is ADDED.

So in this case, concentrating the acid may actually make it less effective. This is one major difference between the action of a weak vs strong acid, where weak acids dissociate weakly.

BTW, while the citric acid mentioned is indeed a far superior substitute, it also has a pretty short shelf life. A couple of years at the most before it is trash.

 

[twizted1]

Yes, the ice is the water and you now have stronger acid.
It is called "freeze distilling." (Vs. boiling.)

That's actually freeze concentration rather than distillation. Distillation involves the evaporation and condensation of the "lightest" products of a mixture (the product with the lowest boiling point). Freeze concentration allows the removal of the products that freeze at a lower temperature than other portions of the mixture.

ETA: Freeze concentration is typically used to remove water from a mixture.

 

[plow]

I like vinegar on my spinach!

Mmmmm. Me to.

 

[AndyA]

I like vinegar on my spinach!

Mmmmm. Me to.

You're doing it wrong!

Well.. ok, this stuff is basically 99% vinegar. So you're only doing it 1% wrong.

 

[404]

Sad but true. Must be why my teeth are so bad. Mmm, NC BBQ!

And here I thought the idea was to expose the clean tooth material underneath.

Yes BBQ is an amazing thing.