Method Powdered zinc and calcium carbone to produce carbon monoxide?

[white_car]

Hi there...

So, on the big thread about CO, a user made a post saying that mixing powdered zinc and calcium carbonate then heating the mix would produce CO. He also says these substances are easy to come by.

But then his post was virtually ignored in the entire thread...

Is he right about this? Does it work, and are those actually available to the public? (In western Europe in my case)

Sorry if this sounds trivial, but I really don't know anything about chemistry.

I really hope this is true!

 

[Unbearable Mr. Bear]

I second this. While I'm not planning to CTB, it is mostly because the methods are usually out of my league, either by access to stuff or by skill. I don't know how easy zinc is to come by, but calcium carbonate is pretty easy where I live.

Besides, more power to the people to choose their destinies, right?

 

[white_car]

I second this. While I'm not planning to CTB, it is mostly because the methods are usually out of my league, either by access to stuff or by skill. I don't know how easy zinc is to come by, but calcium carbonate is pretty easy where I live.

Besides, more power to the people to choose their destinies, right?

Hey! So does it have like a "commercial name", or do you just ask for calcium carbonate at the store?

Otherwise, not sure if I would call it choosing my destiny, but I sure prefer having the option of not being further degraded by a world everyone tells me is a beautiful one!

 

[Unbearable Mr. Bear]

Hey! So does it have like a "commercial name", or do you just ask for calcium carbonate at the store?

Otherwise, not sure if I would call it choosing my destiny, but I sure prefer having the option of not being further degraded by a world everyone tells me is a beautiful one!

In the Wikipedia page it says it's on Tums and Eno, antacids in general: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_carbonate

It seems Zinc sulfate is also pharmacy stuff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc#Dietary_supplement

This seems easy...too easy...*shifty eyes*

 

[white_car]

In the Wikipedia page it says it's on Tums and Eno, antacids in general: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_carbonate

It seems Zinc sulfate is also pharmacy stuff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc#Dietary_supplement

This seems easy...too easy...*shifty eyes*

Yep, saw that part... But the problem with dietary supplements is that they're often mainly made of excipients, just to "carry" the main substance...

Let's wait and see if any of our colleagues on here know more than we do...

 

[Unbearable Mr. Bear]

Well it just means we need a shitton of them! Industrial pack of Tums here we goooo hahahaha

 

[Darkover]

• • On heating, calcium carbonate decomposes into calcium oxide (quicklime) and carbon dioxide (CO₂).
  • This occurs around 825 °C.
• Zinc's role:
  • Zinc metal is fairly stable and won't react with CaCO₃ directly.
  • However, if the CO₂ produced encounters hot zinc, a reduction reaction can occur under specific high-temperature conditions:
  Zn+CO2→ZnO+CO\text{Zn} + \text{CO}_2 \rightarrow \text{ZnO} + \text{CO}Zn+CO2→ZnO+CO
  • This is a redox reaction, where zinc is oxidized to ZnO and CO₂ is reduced to CO.
  • This reaction typically requires temperatures above 600–700 °C and an oxygen-deficient atmosphere to proceed effectively.

Formic acid (HCOOH) reacts with concentrated sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄), which acts as a dehydrating agent, removing water and leaving behind carbon monoxide gas.

 

[white_car]

• • On heating, calcium carbonate decomposes into calcium oxide (quicklime) and carbon dioxide (CO₂).
  • This occurs around 825 °C.
• Zinc's role:
  • Zinc metal is fairly stable and won't react with CaCO₃ directly.
  • However, if the CO₂ produced encounters hot zinc, a reduction reaction can occur under specific high-temperature conditions:
  Zn+CO2→ZnO+CO\text{Zn} + \text{CO}_2 \rightarrow \text{ZnO} + \text{CO}Zn+CO2→ZnO+CO
  • This is a redox reaction, where zinc is oxidized to ZnO and CO₂ is reduced to CO.
  • This reaction typically requires temperatures above 600–700 °C and an oxygen-deficient atmosphere to proceed effectively.

Formic acid (HCOOH) reacts with concentrated sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄), which acts as a dehydrating agent, removing water and leaving behind carbon monoxide gas.

Hey!

I too thought that formic acid and sulfuric acid would be the perfect way to go for producing CO, I even bought formic acid and was planning on concentrating the acid of a car battery by evaporating it. But it turns out, you need yet another substance to "wash" the resulting gas, with a device you need to build.

Now, being a clumsy incompetent (and poor) person is part of why I'd like to CTB, and this is already more than I can handle.

That's why I made this post specifically about mixing zinc and calcium carbonate.

Thank you for the technical explanation, but what's your take on its feasibility?

 

[Darkover]

feasibility?

impractical

 

[white_car]

impractical

Thanks for your input!

PS: Love your avatar... McKenna is a very special person... I would have liked to try magic shrooms before CTB at least once, see if it affects my worldview, but that too is difficult to get. End of digression, wouldn't want to derail my own thread!