can fluorine be separated from hcfc/cfc refrigerants?

Mass spectrometer can be used even to separate isotopes of the same element..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry

 

Putting  CFCs and fluorine in a mass spec won't get you very far. The technique only works for ions, rather than molecules.

However the ionisation processes  used immediately prior to most mass spectrometers may well get some interesting fragments.

It depends on what you take "can fluorine be separated from hcfc/cfc refrigerants?" to mean.

Strictly, the answer is yes. If you have a mixture of fluorine and CFC then you can separate them- for example by distillation.

However, such a mixture would, in many cases, be explosively unstable.

 

If, on the other hand you mean "can you get the fluorine atoms out of the CFC molecule?

The answer s still yes, but the process is different.

Passing CFC over a heated strong alkali would produce  fluorides from which fluorine could be produced in "the usual ways"

 

 

I'm talking about extracting the fluorine from the chlorofluorocarbon.

edit: I'm writing about this. Your answer is vague for me I'm not very science savvy. I don't know what the "usual ways" are. How would you pass refrigerant over a heated alkali?

Edited February 17, 20187 yr by junkfile
elaboration

Why do you want to know? 

what are the usual ways of extracting fluorine from a chlorofluorocarbon. and how do you pass refrigerant over a hot alkali when refrigerants are gas at extremely low temps? 

take r22 for example. a common hydrochlorofluorocarbon. boiling point is -40°f. John Cutherber says all i need to do is pass that refrigerant over a hot alkali and extract it "the normal ways".... what???

Edited February 17, 20187 yr by junkfile
spelling

9 minutes ago, junkfile said:

what are the usual ways of extracting fluorine from a chlorofluorocarbon. and how do you pass refrigerant over a hot alkali when refrigerants are gas at extremely low temps? 

take r22 for example. a common hydrochlorofluorocarbon. boiling point is -40°f. John Cutherber says all i need to do is pass that refrigerant over a hot alkali and extract it "the normal ways".... what???

You are asking about producing one of the most reactive/dangerous substances out there... not going to happen.

35 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

You are asking about producing one of the most reactive/dangerous substances out there... not going to happen.

I'm talking about writing about it. this is a science forum and already i have to listen to losers preach to me about dangers. I'm just looking for knowledge. but this looks like another dead end. 

1 hour ago, junkfile said:

what are the usual ways of extracting fluorine from a chlorofluorocarbon. and how do you pass refrigerant over a hot alkali when refrigerants are gas at extremely low temps? 

take r22 for example. a common hydrochlorofluorocarbon. boiling point is -40°f. John Cutherber says all i need to do is pass that refrigerant over a hot alkali and extract it "the normal ways".... what???

I can imagine one way would be to bubble the gas through the molten alkali.

One of the "usual ways" would be electrolysis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorine#Production

 

Edited February 17, 20187 yr by Strange

7 hours ago, hypervalent_iodine said:

Why do you want to know? 

I'm writing a science fiction. i work in the HVAC industry because that's what job i ended up being forced to have in the Marine corps. in the book the character also works in the hvac field because he also did it in the Marine corps. and like me, he wanted to be a combat engineer and work with explosives because it's exciting. but i never got that opportunity, instead they gave me an actual career which i should be thankful for. now I'm writing a science fiction about this character and it's based in a post apocalyptic scene and I'm going to spice up the story with explosives if someone who knows what they are talking about would tell me a theoretical method.

3 minutes ago, junkfile said:

i have to listen to losers preach to me about dangers.

Clearly you have never been in a chemistry lab. "Losers" (aka professors) spend quite a lot of time on the dangers of various reactions. For obvious reasons.

40 minutes ago, junkfile said:

I'm writing a science fiction. i work in the HVAC industry because that's what job i ended up being forced to have in the Marine corps. in the book the character also works in the hvac field because he also did it in the Marine corps. and like me, he wanted to be a combat engineer and work with explosives because it's exciting. but i never got that opportunity, instead they gave me an actual career which i should be thankful for. now I'm writing a science fiction about this character and it's based in a post apocalyptic scene and I'm going to spice up the story with explosives if someone who knows what they are talking about would tell me a theoretical method.

If you will write entire, step by step, instruction "how to make explosives" in your (hypothetical) science fiction novel, it'll be the bestseller for any terrorist-to-be..

Extracting fluorine from anything, to use it, to make explosives, I would call quite silly idea, as there are much easier ways to make explosives.

If you think we will tell you here "how to make explosives step-by-step", you completely lost mind..

 

Edited February 17, 20187 yr by Sensei

25 minutes ago, Sensei said:

If you will write entire, step by step, instruction "how to make explosives" in your (hypothetical) science fiction novel, it'll be the bestseller for any terrorist-to-be..

The information is readily available online and in libraries so I don;treally think that is a problem.

25 minutes ago, Sensei said:

Extracting fluorine from anything, to use it, to make explosives, I would call quite silly idea, as there are much easier ways to make explosives

Fluorine is the last thing you want in an explosive. Fluorine compounds tend to be very stable(*). Now, nitrogen ...

Although there are exceptions: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_wont_work_with_dioxygen_difluoride

Love that blog:

Quote

If the paper weren’t laid out in complete grammatical sentences and published in JACS, you’d swear it was the work of a violent lunatic. 

 

Edited February 17, 20187 yr by Strange

Talking of nitrogen compounds...

Quote

Saying “this compound doesn’t have enough nitro groups” is, for most chemists, like saying “You know, this lab doesn’t have enough flying glass in it” – pretty much the same observation, in the end. ... Round-bottom flasks, rota-vaps, and balances aren’t supposed to last forever, right?

http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2016/09/27/what-this-here-compound-needs-is-some-hydrogen-peroxide

Propane and butane are used as refrigerants.
Do they teach refrigeration engineers about fuel/ air explosives?

 

It#s also worth remembering that most people reading sci fi won't spot  minor problems with the science .