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freereinfarms
Mar 3, 2014, 08:45 AM
Baking Soda reaction with propane flame?
I sprinkled baking soda on my living room carpet this morning, just as I always do before I vacuum. We have a wall mounted ventless propane heater going in this room. I noticed that the flames doubled in size and went from blue to orange right after running the vacuum (could have happened before but this is when I noticed it). The flames are now back to the normal blue. What happened??

ma0641
Mar 3, 2014, 02:33 PM
Well, what you did was to heat Sodium Bicarbonate which drives the reaction to CO2 and Sodium Oxide which ultimately becomes Sodium Hydroxide. It is not a flammable or combustible material. It really doesn't burn but the orange/yellow color is a dead giveaway for sodium ions. No big issue with the quantity used. Might say plumbing expert but 1962 BS Chem, Temple U.