How to bake my baking soda?

[Reefinmike]

Hey all, sorry this seems like such a novice question but i’m having a hard time finding a straight answer. I went to dose a tank with a new batch of “soda ash” and I believe I didnt bake my baking soda properly. I cooked it for one hour at 200*F. I’ve baked the soda before but I believe i used a much higher temperature. My google skills must be poor because most the answers are not from reefing related sites and they almost all recommend 200*F for one hour. Maybe the proper temp is 200* C or 393*F. Just seems odd that multiple chemistry related sites would mix up C and F.

Normally I add x.xx gram soda ash to a jug, fill with ro/di and shake. The powder at the bottom would get warm instantly, form stones and require a couple minutes of shaking. When dripped into a low flow area, a precipitate cloud would form. This time the powder dissolved completely before i could cap it and shake it. No visible clouding happened when poured in low flow.

My first batch of sodium bicarbonate was from bulk reef and the new batch is arm and hammer from sam’s for 50¢/lb!

 

[CNDReef]

I believe it’s at 300F for 1 hour

 

[CNDReef]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

 

[redfishbluefish]

I "bake" my own baking soda...for about ten years....using Randy Holmes Farley recipe with slight variation. He recommended 300 F for one hour. I do 350F for 1 hour. The additional temperature has no negative impact on the conversion of sodium bicarbonate to sodium carbonate. I show the actual "baking" process in the article I did:

How Much Two Part Do I Need

Hope this helps!

 

[Reefinmike]

Thank you for the answers! I’m baking some now at 325 just to error on the high side

 

[redfishbluefish]

A little extra heat won't hurt the conversion or the chemistry....again, I go to 350. It simply guarantees that that carbon dioxide has been blown off, converting the bicarbonate to the carbonate. Good stuff.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Oh, and FYI, an hour isn't written in stone. If you forget about it and go for 1 1/2 hours or 2 hours....no problem.

 

[JimWelsh]

Just bake the crap out of it. With a typical domestic oven, you can neither get it too hot nor for too long. The only danger in baking is not hot enough or not long enough to convert all the bicarbonate to carbonate. Your oven can't get hot enough to do any damage. Stirring occasionally while baking may be helpful.