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Cooling system for an electrolytic bath of 49% HF and 96% sulfuric acid

June 24, 2010

Hi everyone,

I am a graduate student working on the electropolishing of niobium. The electrolytic recipe for doing this is 49% HF and 96% H2SO4 in a volume ratio of 1:9 (very dangerous). So, I have to carry out the experiment in a teflon bath. However, I have to also maintain the temperature of the bath below 30 C. The temperature rises because of the heat generated in the process. Can anyone suggest me some way of controlling the temperature. I was thinking of using a teflon coated metallic bath. Does anyone know whether this will be conductive enough to maintain the temperature if I put the entire set up in an external cooling bath.

Your suggestions are most welcome

Thanks

Ashwini Chandra
Student - Columbus, Ohio, USA

What size container do you need, and how much heat do you think that you will need to dissipate?

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
June 28, 2010