My homemade black powder

[Eddie2002]

Years ago when I was young and dumb I worked on an off shore oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. During one shift I helped a welder install a few hundred feet of railing in an enclosed area. The stuff was galvanized and the welding fumes just about killed us. Never been that sick as I was since then. The guy who was doing the welding just about died and had to be flown off the rig a few days later. Man the stuff was nasty.
I just checked a little kiln I have stored in the shop but with a 3 1/2 x 8 x 8 opening I don't think it is big enough for any large charcoal production and I would need to find a retort to cook the wood down in. Bummer.

[LAGS]

A crew on one of my construction sights got sick after lunch one time.
They used an old Galvanized Steel Base plate of a column as a hot plate over a small fire to heat up Tortillas to make Mexican food.
As soon as I found out what metal they were using, I went to the store and bought several gallons of milk and made them drink all of it.
It helped flush the toxins out of their system and made them feel better.

[almar]

I'd like to report that the sand idea surrounding the small paint can worked out well to whomever it may concern. the thermal inertia was slower at first but more controllable than without. I kept it at under 593 easily without overshooting, carefully of course...this charcoal, or torrefied wood turned out very similar to my good batch I made with the high results I posted. One little tip for anyone who might need it, if you make a good batch of this brown stuff, keep a small sample to compare the colors with others that you make, it is useful to have a benchmark.

The oven idea could be possible I think. It way required some work for small 120v ovens because the output needs to be high and they aren't insulated at all really....large type 220v could be possible if you have one laying around and a 220v plug. For some reason this house doesn't have a 220 plug in the shop so I need to install one, I mean...I need a welding machine right?

[Vettepilot]

Gas oven should be easy I think. Just wire a PID into the gas control unit, bypassing the original temp control.

Amazon sells PID's now, if ya don't want to wait for one from Banggood or AliExpress. Not as cheap though...

Vettepilot

[DoubleBuck]

I'd like to report that the sand idea surrounding the small paint can worked out well to whomever it may concern. the thermal inertia was slower at first but more controllable than without. I kept it at under 593 easily without overshooting, carefully of course...this charcoal, or torrefied wood turned out very similar to my good batch I made with the high results I posted. One little tip for anyone who might need it, if you make a good batch of this brown stuff, keep a small sample to compare the colors with others that you make, it is useful to have a benchmark.

The oven idea could be possible I think. It way required some work for small 120v ovens because the output needs to be high and they aren't insulated at all really....large type 220v could be possible if you have one laying around and a 220v plug. For some reason this house doesn't have a 220 plug in the shop so I need to install one, I mean...I need a welding machine right?

Almar, good advice on the benchmark coal. And, YES, yes you do need a welding machine!

[LAGS]

You can make an extension cord and plug it into the 220 outlet for an electric stove or clothes dryer for using your welder outside.
That way you don't have to run another 220 circuit.
So yes.
You have to buy a welder , to see that my method really works. Lol

[ChrisPer]

This is all very interesting. I am just about to grind my second batch of charcoal, which went to 'as soon as I noticed the white smoke stopped', ie post that completion point.
Almar, some options for a pressurised cook vessel are an out-of-date gas cylinder, or a secondhand pressure cooker from a goodwill shop. The pressure cooker comes with door-hole and seal ready built. You could tap a relief valve straight onto the weight opening, or just add a spring and screw to the weight.

HOWEVER another word for pressure vessel in the trade is a 'bomb'.

[ChrisPer]

I just macerated my second batch of willow charcoal. I use a 8 litre soup pot, stainless with a thick bottom. The first batch yielded 30% of start weight. It had about 120g of inadequately cooked, brown wood/coal that wouldnt crush nicely. The first batch I blade milled until it had all gone through a 100# screen.



This one I blade milled, after using a 20mmx800mm iron bar as a pestle to crush it in the soup pot. I sieved it through a kitchen sieve, and it ran freely through so I think its still been blade milled fine.

I didn't weigh the wood this time, but I think this one lost more weight cooking, and had creosote coating in the pot that was much more than the small amount from the first batch. There was just one stick I saw that had a brown look but it all ground up easily.

Weighed it out and got a batch rolling in the mill. Soon to see what the Chrony says!

[almar]

Good luck ChrisPer I hope it gives good results. Are you using a 75/15/10 ratio? I have a batch of 77-13-10 milling now as well. I can ball mill this stuff for 6 hours + no problem, the other fully cooked charcoal could only go 4 hours before turning into a hard clump.

220V: There is also an extension chord that combines 2 separate 120v lines into a 240V outlet. The input lines have to be from separate lines, not just 2 outlets, 2 outlets on different breakers.

[almar]

ok I had to hurry up to quickly finish milling, and corning this batch to test the charcoal, dry it and test it because I have a pressing appointment at 13:00, I need to get dressed and cant forget the rings. I pressed it for only 5 minutes and the density is much lower than I usually get. I dried it for about 3 minutes in the oven at 170 and quickly loaded 2 rounds. The results are great at 710 and 712 FPS but I will dry it out more for the next velocity test. So this shows that you need a medium/dark coffee roast color for the charcoal.

[DoubleBuck]

SeaMonkey;
I can't quit thinking about the 'Torrefaction info' you posted. haha So, who is going to donate the first Microwave oven, to science? haha I know you can make charcoal in a microwave, but can you keep it from becoming part of the microwave? All joking aside, do you think that microwave deal was also part of what they mentioned earlier, that it was "Low Oxygen Environment"? So are they nuking the wood, in a vacuum?
Something very trivial, but seems to add interest.... You can take a cigarette (or a cigar, or a pipe) and let it go out and leave the ash on the end, and pitch it in the microwave for maybe ten seconds, and pick it up, and take a hit off it and it will be smoking. I've never cooked wood in a microwave, but I can tell you what powder will do, in under ten seconds. And, charcoal. But will it do the same in a vacuum, and is that their trick?
They all dance, but can she sing?

[henryinpanama]

"220V: There is also an extension chord that combines 2 separate 120v lines into a 240V outlet. The input lines have to be from separate lines, not just 2 outlets, 2 outlets on different breakers."

To be precise, they must connect to different poles of the 220V feed. This diagram will perhaps explain it a bit better. *Yes, I know Almar probably knows this. This is for you folks who maybe don't know about 'lektricity.

https://wiringforums.com/wp-content/...fine-panel.jpg

[Vettepilot]

You can make an extension cord and plug it into the 220 outlet for an electric stove or clothes dryer for using your welder outside.
That way you don't have to run another 220 circuit.
So yes.
You have to buy a welder , to see that my method really works. Lol

Which method was that LAGS?

To use the dryer or oven outlet to power a welder? Oh yeah, that will work. As long as the circuit is for the amps your welder might draw.

And as HenryinPanama notes; yeah, getting 220 requires using both sides of 110 from the breaker box. Just randomly grabbing two 110 circuits for 220 can be dangerous though, because you don't have a proper 220 volt, ganged circuit breaker. And for safety, don't forget the neutral and ground. In a pinch though, I've temporarily used 220 quickly grabbed from a 110 line from each side of the breaker panel. Just be careful!

Vettepilot

[Eddie2002]

Using a glass retort in a microwave oven to cook charcoal would be easy. If I recall there used to be a line of glass cookware called Visions which is still probably found at flea markets and thrift stores. Temp control would be a challenge.

[DoubleBuck]

Using a glass retort in a microwave oven to cook charcoal would be easy. If I recall there used to be a line of glass cookware called Visions which is still probably found at flea markets and thrift stores. Temp control would be a challenge.

Indeed. Now, how do we either pressure cook it, or put it on a vacuum?

[DoubleBuck]

SeaMonkey;
I finished reading your links. Not 100% but probably the 60% I was interested in, and skimmed the rest.
There was a lot of useful information in the third and the last ones, for me. But your most interesting link, by far, I nearly missed until last. The one to Ulrich Bretcher's Black Powder Page. THAT WAS COOL!!!
He pretty well summed it up. It took me a minute to write some pertinent info down, and decifer the "Parts" part, but I concluded he is using 75% KNO3, 13% SULPHUR and 12% Charcoal. That perked my ears, after seeing his proof!
To quote him, "Charring time has little influence on the carbon concentration of the charcoal. Only the charring temperature is (very) important. At 400°C, wood yields 19% charcoal by weight. If charred in a closed container under pressure, then the yield is 60% charcoal, which is why it is generally done that way by the industry."
So, how much pressure are we talking there, Ulrich? Are we talking all of it, or venting some of it? I don't know how much pressure one pound of wood would generate, baking at somewhere between his minimum of 500°F and his maximum of 752° F, in a small enclosure. Is that pressure going to be manageable? If that charcoal contains 25% Oxygen, 5% Hydrogen and 68% Carbon, with 2% ash, does that mean it will 'splode on us? Enquiring minds would love to know!

[DoubleBuck]

He already said it would 'splode if it was piled in a heap, and let it absorb some atmospheric Oxygen. By itself, with no help.

[Vettepilot]

As he said, coal piled in a heap can self ignite. One of the coal holds in the Titanic had been on fire for days, before the sinking finally put it out.

Just an interesting side factoid: I don't recall what started it, but there's a coal mine in the eastern US, (Pennsylvania), that's been burning for 60 years. They say it will burn for as long as 250 years!

Yeah, I too picked up on his odd recipe ratios. Guess ya can't argue with his testing results. Might be worth trying. Almar? ;~)

Vettepilot

[DoubleBuck]

Almar;
Did you finish that test yet? Hurry up!

[almar]

No sorry guys, I got married today so I was busy, we are back now. We get married twice, once in the house of God (today) then the big one at the venue in a month, we still had a little celebration with family. Not much time for testing...tomorrow.