tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62111447970561585542024-02-21T01:29:36.820-08:00PaleochemistryExperiments in early chemistryJeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-28073061652978096542014-03-18T18:02:00.001-07:002014-03-18T18:03:29.302-07:00Humor<div style="background: #ffffc0;">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
You Might Be a Home Chemistry Geek if...</h2>
<br />
<ul>
<li>You're at the market buying Honey, Baking Powder, Vinegar, Kosher Rock Salt, Corn Oil and a sturdy
looking glass measuring cup, but don't plan to do any
cooking today.</li>
<li>You've bought a gallon of apple juice for the sealable glass jug it comes in.</li>
<li>Your water bill is higher than the rest of your utilities combined.</li>
<li>You go through more paper towels than most families of six.</li>
<li>You have a case lot of coffee filters, but no coffee maker.</li>
<li>You catch yourself thinking "Wait, has this been neutralized?!?"
before dumping the spaghetti boiling water into the kitchen sink. </li>
<li>Even though you're a single guy, you spend a lot of time in kitchen stores looking for very specific items.</li>
<li>You find yourself explaining to the Sur Le Table cashier that "I'm going to use this jerky dehydrator to do low-temperature evaporation of a solution of potash", etc.</li>
<li>You're irritated at having to explain to the supermarket guy that, no, mineral water is actually the <i>opposite</i> of distilled water, so you really <i>do</i> need the distilled kind.</li>
<li>You begin to wonder why the government thinks <i>any</i> nonzero value of "Total Dissolved Solids" in drinking water is ok.</li>
<li>You have a "real, chemical-grade fire extinguisher" in your kitchen</li>
<li>Your fire extinguisher is the only device in your kitchen for which you have read the instructions.</li>
<li>Your fire extinguisher is the only thing in your kitchen for which you check the freshness date faithfully</li>
<li>You're buying a cartload of clear glass rubber gasket canning jars (for storing hygroscopic materials), and are confused when the cashier asks you what kind of preserves you make.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Got more? Send em <a href="mailto:info@novogenesis.com" target="_blank">my way</a>.</div>
JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-72030366287922536732014-03-13T10:17:00.002-07:002014-03-13T10:17:52.643-07:00Soap 2<div style="text-align: center;">
In which I make soap but do no damage to my kitchen.<br />
<br />
</div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Melting the tallow</h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
I melted the 1kg tallow from <a href="http://paleochemistry.blogspot.com/2014/03/tallow-3.html">Tallow 3</a> over heat low enough to produce no
steam or smoke. I combined 120g of slightly lumpy (not completely
anhydrous) sodium hydroxide lye and 325ml of water, let it cool, then
added it slowly to the warmed liquid tallow.<br />
<br />
</div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Stir, stir, stir</h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Very little soap floated to the top, but every time I stirred the mixture, more light colored solids accumulated <i>at the bottom of the pot</i>. I had expected that the soap formed would rise to the top, and indeed some fluffy soap-like curds did come to the top, but the more viscous and cohesive mass stayed at the bottom. The more I stirred, the more formed. I kept the heat at the minimum setting throughout. I ended up with something that looked more like applesauce or loose tofu than soap.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Set</h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
When the stirring produced no further solids, I stopped and turned off the heat, and left it overnight. During the night the saponification completed normally. I ended up with a thick cake with rice-crispie-sized pellets on top, and a very thin layer of clear viscous liquid at the bottom. This cannot be the whole of the glycerin, since it's not even 5ml of liquid. A quick swab with some litmus paper shows it as extremely alkaline, so I assume some of the sodium hydroxide went unused and collected here.<br />
<br />
I am not shaping the soap at this point, I'm just setting it aside as large cakes for later use.</div>
JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-51373610559141626652014-03-08T02:18:00.000-08:002014-03-13T10:16:56.357-07:00Tallow 3<div style="text-align: center;">
In which I overcook the tallow</div>
<br />
Another trip back to the market, and the butcher generously provided me with 2.1kg of assorted fat. I added the 600g of tallow from Tallow 2 as a heating medium rather than water, and simmered. This produced approximately 1.5kg of tallow total.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Darker tallow</h4>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMc3ejqtQoXrQF_kQ7ViIGFISbZ1uFXUjZRfVTCWYe-2bkUU-gED-gvwDYa1X2XmCrLADU6uMUywpnf2KqnBq-FO0Wwn2c5lLTKxhIolKZHzxFi1nWs_gW5L5hb9E5NyFjZIDaEw5nz7l/s1600/tallow_blogsize.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMc3ejqtQoXrQF_kQ7ViIGFISbZ1uFXUjZRfVTCWYe-2bkUU-gED-gvwDYa1X2XmCrLADU6uMUywpnf2KqnBq-FO0Wwn2c5lLTKxhIolKZHzxFi1nWs_gW5L5hb9E5NyFjZIDaEw5nz7l/s1600/tallow_blogsize.png" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
Unlike Tallow 1, I let the rendering continue at a higher temperature well into the browning stage, so the resultant tallow was significantly darker than my previous efforts.<br />
<br />
This could be for several reasons:<br />
<ul>
<li>Some fraction of the fat might have reached its smoke point and decomposed, leaving carbon with sufficiently fine grain to pass through the filters.</li>
<li>Some substance from the meat or connective tissue might have dissolved into the fat, giving it a darker hue.</li>
<li>It's possible there's some mineral in the tap water that's promoting darker tallow.</li>
</ul>
Or any number of other things.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Clarifying the tallow </h4>
<br />
I remelted the tallow at very very low heat, then let it set. The underside of the tallow contained the majority of the darker mass. I scraped it off, then repeated the process. On this second run there was also a dark mass on the underside. I scraped it off and repeated a third time. On the third run, there was no dark mass to scrape off, nor on the fourth. Apparently the tallow had reached its maximum clarity even though it wasn't white. I had removed a total of 429g of tallow and "dark stuff".<br />
<br />
<h4>
Lower yield </h4>
<br />
The total yield from the preceding experiment and this one was almost exactly 1kg of tallow. That was less than I had expected.<br />
<br />
The tallow, being very very soft, was harder to manipulate and transfer from pot to pot, leaving a fraction of itself behind at each stage. I would hazard a wild guess that 10-15% of the total was lost on the sides of pots and pans or poured out with water.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Future attempts</h4>
<br />
If I have a large enough batch of fat in the future, I shall try as follows: split it up into four batches, and try low-vs-high temperature, and distilled-vs-tap water.JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-13719032479811989982014-03-06T02:48:00.001-08:002014-03-08T02:40:06.977-08:00Tallow NotesSo after the <a href="http://paleochemistry.blogspot.com/2014/03/tallow-2.html">misadventure of Tallow 2</a>, which resulted in a mere 600g of rendered tallow <i>in the pot</i>, I shall start over. That will be covered in the next instalment, Tallow 3. In the meantime, I thought I might write down a few lessons learned.<br />
<br />
<h4>
A few notes</h4>
<br />
<b>Caveat Scisor</b>: If you're doing this with butcher scraps as I am, remember that you're handling <b>a non-sterile bacterial culture medium</b>.
It may have been in a butcher's trash can all morning. You should assume that it
is practically alive with microbes at this point. Wear gloves. Avoid cross-contamination. If you was these pots in the same
dishwasher you use for regular pots and pans, make sure you set it on
"sterilize" when you wash these pots. Most dishwashers in the US have a setting that gets the
temperature over 200F. Use it. If you have antibacterial soap, use it to wash your hands afterwards. That sort of
thing. The last thing you want is to get sick from handling the raw
(literally) materials.<br />
<br />
This is a perfectly safe operation, provided you
take precautions and use common sense. <br />
<br />
<b>Safety Tip</b>: I probably should have
said this earlier. Remember that this process generates steam directly
from the raw materials, since there is water in the meat. This means
that the lid on the container will have water on it when it is lifted
off the pot. It would be natural to hold the lid over the pot to let the
drips fall back into the pot rather than spilling onto your stove or
counter. <b>Do not do this.</b> It can cause spatters and burns. Either
let it drip on the counter (it's pretty much distilled water at this
point) or keep a container nearby to catch the water drops when you lift
the lid.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Terminology</b>: Some people may (rightly) complain that I should be using the more generic term <b><i>lard</i></b> in place of the term <b><i>tallow</i></b>.
Lard refers to just about any kind of rendered fat, whereas tallow can
refer to a narrower category: rendered hard fat, or the rendered hard fat
from around the kidneys of specific animals. Since I am not being at all specific in what kind of fat I'm rendering, it could be more correctly termed lard.<br />
<br />
My only counterargument is weak: People searching for this process are far more likely to use "tallow" as the search term, rather than "lard", since lard is still in common usage and will return results for Crisco, Oleo, et al. In the interests of availability rather than accuracy, I will continue to drive the purists mad and use the term tallow. Mea culpa.JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-26612074322290573892014-03-01T23:45:00.001-08:002014-03-08T03:01:55.876-08:00Tallow 2<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In which I make <i>two</i> rookie mistakes thus creating unwanted excitement in my kitchen.</blockquote>
I decided to do another tallow rendering for two reasons: First I wanted to take a try at making hand sanitizer now that I have ethanol available, and second because the soaps went over pretty well with F&F.<br />
<br />
<h4>
What goes in</h4>
I went to a large local supermarket, rang the butcher's bell, and I asked if he had done any trimming today. When he said he had, I asked if I could get "a couple pounds" of the trimmings. He was happy to oblige, presumably because it was a slow Saturday morning.<br />
<br />
I came home and measured it out: precisely 1400g of trimmings, but as you can see from the picture, a rather a high percentage was meat so I'm not sure what the end yield will be.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Getting started</h4>
I put the fat in a stewpot with a liter or two of water and turned the gas jet up to medium-high.<br />
<br />
You <u>can</u> render fat with no water. It is definitely more efficient: the water's going to boil away or be discarded eventually, and there's no reason to waste the energy turning a liter of liquid water into water vapor. Likewise, it's slightly safer since it's impossible to have a bubble of water pop up through a layer of rendered fat and spatter it everywhere.<br />
<br />
I use water because it lets me work directly with big chunks of fat without having to cut them up or grind them, and without spending a lot of time tending the pot at the beginning to make sure the fat melts without burning. By the time the water's boiled away, there's enough liquid fat in the pot to conduct heat to the rest of the contents. It's fire-and-forget.<br />
<br />
<h4>
The smell of rendering</h4>
Every time I've done this, I get the smells of cooking food: sizzling bacon mixed with a little stewbeef. Despite this I have heard, over and over, that the smell of rendering is bad. This is one of those things that "everyone knows", it seems. I do open the window and turn on the fan, but it's to get rid of the steam. So either what "everyone knows" is dead wrong, or I've been extremely lucky with the materials I've had to render.<br />
<br />
Can someone else who does this please relate your experience? I'd really like to know where this belief comes from.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Rendering</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRlvKX2E9VI1Ff-ivQ7z18lv-waySDQjikceKxgpPU9_C_mN0WPH0Jx4K3tmS1_dTtn0VvcpNo-5iKhULHmGUqoV6VG5PktMZ7y-ES6g7Oxrk9rs1Xxn3xAzkwKR4K1IJhhGcD4ptL8EDf/s1600/fig1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRlvKX2E9VI1Ff-ivQ7z18lv-waySDQjikceKxgpPU9_C_mN0WPH0Jx4K3tmS1_dTtn0VvcpNo-5iKhULHmGUqoV6VG5PktMZ7y-ES6g7Oxrk9rs1Xxn3xAzkwKR4K1IJhhGcD4ptL8EDf/s1600/fig1.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
By the 30 minute mark, the liquid bubbling in the pot is dark, more viscous, and spits if you drip a drop of water into it.<br />
<br />
At the 0:45 mark, there is clearly no water left in the bottom of the pot. There is a large amount of liquid fat, with the larger pieces floating in it. I checked to make sure nothing was stuck to the bottom, and that the floating bits still included fat that had not liquified. Then I turned the gas down to just over "low": enough to keep the fat bubbling and continue the process.<br />
<br />
At the 1:10 mark, it was done. There were huge clumps of solids still floating, but when I fished a couple out and cut them in half, they were all protein. I took the pot off the stove and turned off the gas jet. Later measurement showed 220g of deep-friend protein. Too bad I don't have a dog.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Tip #1: If you have just strained 220g of protein solids out of a pool of hot oil, when setting them aside, <b>do not</b> set them on a styrofoam butcher's tray. Melted styrofoam is neither an attractive nor pleasantly fragrant addition to your kitchen space. -Ed</i></span><br />
<br />
<h4>
The liquid tallow</h4>
I poured the whole lot through a spaghetti strainer to remove the chunks and got the (relatively) pure fat into a different pot. I waited until water dripped in did NOT spit, then tossed in enough warm water to form a short layer underneath the tallow. Then I stirred the pot to bring the water into contact with the oil and its contents.<br />
<br />
The layer of water gives the carbonized bits and chunks still in the tallow somewhere else to be. Most of them are heavier than water, so they fall out of the tallow and into the water. Likewise curing salts or other material from the meat tend to prefer the water to the fat.<br />
<br />
I set it aside and let it cool down on the cooktop, then put it in the fridge.<br />
<br />
<h4>
The initial results</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvlILANyQYYsGLAmW8nK-k9y3aQqNcIM-yh6soIfeWQWdgX5GAXUY887V4fsHeeraZ9-ldmHWw2cf__i4HYdCrIDCsNk4asKt1LWxXJG1Fbh4wo91PnfcBj4DWx5ZXXI4_PUxBkYgh9bNy/s1600/tallow_blogsize.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvlILANyQYYsGLAmW8nK-k9y3aQqNcIM-yh6soIfeWQWdgX5GAXUY887V4fsHeeraZ9-ldmHWw2cf__i4HYdCrIDCsNk4asKt1LWxXJG1Fbh4wo91PnfcBj4DWx5ZXXI4_PUxBkYgh9bNy/s1600/tallow_blogsize.png" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
Once the tallow had hardened in the fridge, I weighed it. I had 780g of very soft tallow. I'm not kidding, the results tallied exactly 1kg to the gram. The tallow was so soft because the source had included a lot of soft, low melting point beef fat. It was also somewhat brownish, apparently from stuff that had made it through the strainer or that hadn't left the fat for the water. <br />
<br />
A little math, for the sake of science: 1400g in, 1000g out, 400g LOI. I assume it's almost all in water lost as steam, because the amount that could have been lost as fryer smoke would be fractional grams at most.<br />
<br />
I elected to try and get it to a pure white before proceeding, so I decided to reboil it and filter it more completely through a finer seive, and then through a paper filter.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Second boil</h4>
You know, I <b>knew</b> there was a reason I hadn't used water in the second boil the first time I made tallow. I ended up with a mini-BLEVE that blew the lid off the boiler and covered a substantial fraction of my kitchen counters and floor in a fine coating of liquid tallow. Eeew.<br />
<br />
I *do* have a chemical rated fire extinguisher, but happily it was not needed.<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Tip
#2: If you are going to boil water under oil, do it at a rolling boil,
like when you make spaghetti and put a little oil on the top. Or don't
boil water under oil at all. Or if you <b>do</b>, be prepared to handle surprises. -Ed</span></i><br />
<br />
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
After-incident report</h4>
In retrospect, the problem was obvious, and the payoff is some practical experience with some fairly cool physics:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The water is essentially in a sealed container: the bottom and sides are the pot, and the "lid" is a coating of oil. The oil "lid" acts something like a blanket: absorbing some heat while reflecting another fraction back into the water. Since the water is in direct contact with the bottom, which is in direct contact with the flame, the water gets hotter much faster than the oil. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There is also a slight pressure exerted on the water due to the weight of the oil. This means that when a substantial bubble of water vapor finally forms and rises through the oil, the oil is pushed away from the part where the bubble comes through, removing the weight of the oil and suddenly creating an area of low pressure in the water. The lower pressure lowers the boiling point of the water underneath, which causes more of the water to suddenly convert to vapor, causing more holes in the oil, causing lower pressure, and each cycle speeds the next. This is not a true BLEVE, because nothing is exploding, but the forces at work are pretty much the same.<br />
<br />
In short, it tends to go from a quiet pot to a fountain of oil blowing the lid off your pot in a very small fraction of a second, probably leading to excitement and cleanup projects you might wish you didn't have.<br />
<br />
As always, Caveat Scisor.</blockquote>
<br />
<h4>
Things I learned</h4>
<ol>
<li>When doing a purifying boil on tallow, skip the water</li>
<li>The screen on a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is liquid-tallow-proof</li>
<li>Even though it wasn't used, I'm really glad I have a good fire extinguisher </li>
</ol>
<h4>
Conclusion </h4>
After the cleanup, I came to the conclusion that there wasn't enough tallow to continue the experiment, so I disposed of the remainder of the tallow and started again at the top.<br />
<br />
If the weather continues bad tomorrow, I'll probably go back to the market and begin Tallow #3.JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-85106862927963126612014-02-28T19:18:00.002-08:002014-04-07T07:12:50.950-07:00Ethanol 4: MeadIt's a rainy spring Friday and I have nothing to do. Actually, rainy doesn't quite describe it. It's pouring outside. Like inches/hour pouring.<br />
<br />
So what to do? Make some alcohol!<br />
<br />
<h4>
Day One</h4>
24 oz of clover honey in 1 gal of water, Red Star Champagne yeast. <i>Ed: that's about half the honey I have used in previous 1-gallon batches.</i><br />
<br />
Again I got no head-foam forming during the yeast startup. I left 30 minutes, and everything went from clear to cloudy, and there was a little fine fizz, but no real foam. I really should find out what's up there. Maybe it needs to be aerated more at the very beginning. The water's certainly warm enough, and I left a substantial amount of honey in the starter. I'm guessing it's either aeration or maybe just the fact that I'm using a whole packet of yeast (enough for 5 gal) and there's some overcrowding going on. We shall have to see.<br />
<br />
Anyway, combined the yeast starter with the rest of the honey water, put an airlock on it, and sent it on its way. <br />
<br />
<b>NB:</b> The "right size" cork for the gallon jugs I'm using is an 8. An 8½ works, but the extra size makes it a bit tougher to get into the neck, while an 8 fits perfectly.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Day 3</h4>
The honey is producing steady a stream of CO2 at this point, so I'm going to let it proceed, even though I suspect it's happening on a relatively low biomass of yeast. This may or may not mean it takes longer to finish fermenting. I'm in experiment mode, not outcome mode, so that's fine.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Day 8</h4>
A steady fizz from a cloudy mass. So the yeast didn't get killed or crippled. We shall see how long it takes to calm down.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Day 27 Update</h4>
<br />
Bottle has gone almost totally clear, with yeast sludge at the bottom. It's fizzing, but only about half as much as before.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Day 34 Update</h4>
<br />
After another week, the entire process seems to have stopped. I siphoned the contents into a few snap-cap bottles and set them aside.JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-59610690932732141952013-10-07T13:40:00.000-07:002014-02-20T10:13:35.292-08:00Hope on the composting front: from the desert?!?This paper: <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i><b>Integrated biological treatment of fowl manure for nitrogen recovery and reuse</b></i><br />in <b>Journal of Environmental Management</b> 117 (2013) 172e179<br />by Roy Posmanik, Ali Nejidat, Boaz Bar-Sinay and Amit Gross<br />(<a href="http://www.researchgate.net/publication/235396561_Integrated_biological_treatment_of_fowl_manure_for_nitrogen_recovery_and_reuse">link to paywalled paper</a>)</blockquote>Shows some amazing results from a relatively simple system: a net uptake <u>and conversion</u> of 40g of ammonia per cubic meter of biofilter per hour. (The latency for conversion is not explicitly covered, but the description of the measurement process leads me to infer it's on the order of hours or perhaps a few days.) <br /><br /><b>First, Kudos to the authors</b>. Great project, nice work. Particular merit for the <i>explicit</i> publication of the values in Table 3. That is (often enough) the value people are seeking in systems like this, and too often it is glossed over, left as an implication, or omitted altogether. Well done.<br /><br /><br /><b>The bad news:</b><br />The process itself is patent-encumbered, so perhaps not generally available.<u></u><br /><br />I publish these questions in the hopes that they will spur other people's brains as well.<br /><br /><br />Questions about the text of the paper<br /><ol><li>The text says "The NU was composed of six opaque PVC columns (120 cm long and 15 cm internal diameter) filled with a mixture of 10 L mature dairy manure compost [...] and 10 L plastic beads". Can I read that as "... EACH filled with a mixture..."? It would seem to make sense, since the dimentions specified would give a volume of just over 20L, so filling them with 20L of material individually would make sense.</li><li>What is the significance of "Mature" in the phrase "mature dairy compost"? I am familiar with cow manure, but this sounds like something different.</li><li>The initial pH and electrical conductivity are given, but not referred to again. Is there a significance for this data?</li><li>The apparent inputs to the NU over the experiment are:<br /> 1L/column/day of water<br /> 15L/min fresh air (per column or per NU?)<br /> 5L/min ammonified air (Per column or per NU?)</li><li>Table 1 lists a variety of Nitrogen values. Are these values totals over the course of an entire run, or per day, or per...?<br /> </li><li>Table 1 lists "Residual N in biofilter". Is that non-nitrate N? How is it different from "Recovered N in fertilizer"?</li><li>Early in the text, reference is made to the water added to the NU as "maintaining moisture content", but later there is another: "rinsing the biofilter" (to remove nitrates). From the first I had assumed that the excess water was lost as water vapor through the ammonia trap. From the latter it appears that the water was recovered in some way. More details on the water exiting the system would be most welcome.<br /> </li><li>In the text regarding Table 3, the text reads "(mainly as NO3)"...what were the proportions of NO2, NO3, NH4 and Organic-N in the resultant compost? If "mainly" means 40% NO3, it's different than if "mainly" means 97% NO3.</li><li>The text gives numbers in terms of cubic meters of biofilter. Biofilter is the 50/50 volume mix of manure and aeration balls, correct? So the experiment overall would have been about 120L total, or 0.12 cubic meters, right? </li></ol>Questions about the experiment and outcome<br /><ol><li>Is there a maximum (practical of effective) NO3 load for the compost? In other words, how long is it practical to run this process between leachings or manure compost replacement? Surely at some point nitrate toxicity will diminish the absorption capability of the compost.</li><li>The text did not seem to differentiate between the rate of absorption of ammonia and the rate of conversion of that ammonia to NO3. By inference we assume the limiting rate is absorption, but is that correct? Did you measure the rate of conversion?</li><li>Were any temperature measurements made in the NU? Was it heated, cooled? Outdoors in the desert?</li><li>A sanity check on the numbers in Table 3 says the apparatus should have converted about 115g of ammonia into 560g of calcium nitrate per day. Does that sound right?<br /> </li></ol>-Jeff Evarts<br /><br /><b>Update</b>: 18 hours later, Professor Gross has replied! Considering the time differential between here and Israel, that is incredibly fast. There is much detail in his reply, and I thank him kindly. When I find out what data is protected and what is not, I shall update this page. In the meantime: Read the paper!JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-37160166742961719822013-08-27T17:35:00.000-07:002014-03-13T10:24:13.018-07:00Commercial compost: low nitrate levels. Experiments in holding pattern.After the <a href="http://bootstrapchemistry.blogspot.com/2013/08/nitrates-from-commercial-compost-3.html#fivemg">< 5mg/L reading</a> I got from an earlier test, I ran the reference test, which ran correctly. Not that that's much more than a sanity check.<br />
<br />
I wondered if I might have the wrong thing in the bag. <br />
<br />
A first-level Agromin support person gave me values of nitrate as 2-8.6 <b><i>milli</i></b>grams per kilo dry weight of EcoScraps compost mix. <i>That's less than 1/1000 of what I expected</i>! I asked for someone else to call me back. No call so far today.<br />
<br />
Further data from EcoScraps directly shows 0.001% dry weight as nitrates. So a kilogram of dry compost (is there such a thing?) would still contain on the order of 10mg of nitrate... right along with the Agromin folks and my tests.<br />
<br />
It would appear that this compost is not suitable for LaConte style recoveries.<br />
<br />
I now have the name of someone else to contact who may have more comprehensive information on the subject of compost nitrate composition. I will call him tomorrow.<br />
<br />
Compost experiments 2 and 3 halted for now.JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-32679756043401794072013-08-27T17:33:00.000-07:002014-03-02T10:20:33.202-08:00Nitrates from commercial compost 3I bought more equipment. This is a weakness. I must resist. I have two scales and a <a href="http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/MT_Nitrate.html">nitrate/nitrite test kit</a>. I am <a href="http://bootstrapchemistry.blogspot.com/2013/08/nitrates-from-commercial-compost-2.html">continuing the previous experiment</a> while moving on with this one.<br />
<h3>
Considerations</h3>
<ul>
<li>Leaching may extract more (or less) nitrate over time.<br /><b>Check at 1 and 24 hours.</b></li>
<li>According to the literature, the evaporite is going to be a mix of [Na,K,Ca,Mg][CO3,NO2] with either the Ca or the CO3 at zero. Fe and Cl may be present as well.<br /> <b>We will presume it is the CO3 species that is absent.</b></li>
<li>Potassium carbonate has the highest molecular weight of the various components of potash: 138g/mol.</li>
<li>Calcium Nitrate has the highest molecular weight of the various potential components of raw saltpeter: 236g/mol.</li>
<li>Suppose we have N grams of a CaCO3 precipitate. To calculate the amount of potash required to provide that much carbonate, divide by the molar mass of CaCO3 (100g) and multiply by the molar mass of potassium carbonate (138g) for a net mass multiplier of 1.38.<br /><b>1.38 times the Mass(CaCO3) is the max Mass(potash) to be used.</b></li>
<li>Suppose we have N grams of a Ca(NO3)2.4H2O evaporite. The mass divided by 236g is the number of moles of calcium nitrate. Calcium nitrate mixed 1:1 molar with potash results in 1 mole of calcium carbonate and 2 moles of alkaline nitrate. 138/236 = 0.58, thus:<br /><b>0.58 times the Mass(Ca(NO3)2) is the max Mass(potash) to be used.</b></li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Process</h3>
<ol><h3 style="text-align: left;">
Part 1, 1 hour </h3>
<li>Place 1kg of compost in a stainless pot</li>
<li>Add 2 liters of distilled water<br />Checked: Total mass: 3kg </li>
<li>Let stand for 1 hour</li>
<li>Filter (seive and paper towels, as above)</li>
<li>Measure 1 liter of fluid</li>
<li>Get mass of solution to estimate dissolved salts, and verify by checking weight of remainder of fluid and soil<b><br />Liter:</b> 1003g (about 3g, estimate 6g in 1kg of compost)<br /><b>Remainder:</b> 1997g</li>
<li><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" id="fivemg"></a>Perform Nitrate test<br /><b>Nitrates:</b> < 5mg/L (Well THAT sucks. Maybe it's wrong?)</li>
<li>Return the fluid to the mass<br /><h3>
Part 2, 24 hours</h3>
</li>
<li>Let stand for 23 hours</li>
<li>Repeat mass measurements<b><br />Liter:</b> <br /><b>Remainder:</b> <b><br /></b></li>
<li>Test for nitrate<br /><b>Nitrates:</b></li>
<li>Was it worth waiting the 23 hours<br /><b>?</b><br /><h3>
Part 3, Analysis</h3>
</li>
<li>Extract all the solution</li>
<li>Filter the solution</li>
<li>Evaporate with minimal heat</li>
<li>Weigh evaporite<b><br />Evaporite</b>: </li>
<li>Calculate the maximum potash required:<br /><b> 0.58 * mass(evaporite)</b>: </li>
<li>Gather the potash</li>
<li>Dissolve the evaporite in a minimum of distilled water</li>
<li>Divide the solution into two halves (S1 and S2)</li>
<li>Divide the potash into two halves (P1 and P2)</li>
<li>Add one tenth of P1 to S1</li>
<li>Observe a precipitate (hopefully)</li>
<li>Add more of P1 to S1 very slowly until no more precipitate is formed</li>
<li>Weigh the dry remainder of P1<br /><b>Remainder:</b> </li>
<li>Dry and weigh the precipitate from S1<br /><b>S1 Precipitate: </b></li>
<li>Recalculate the maximum potash required:<br /><b> 1.38 * mass(precipitate)</b>: </li>
<li>If this new "maximum potash" value is lower than the mass of P2, reduce the mass of P2 to the lower maximum.</li>
<li>Add the (possibly reduced amount of) P2 to S2<br />Hopefully this achieves a zero value for both calcium and carbonate, leaving only nitrates in the wake</li>
<li>Dry and weigh the precipitate from S2<br /><b>S2 Precipitate</b>: </li>
<li>Compare the masses of the precipitates. They <i>should</i> be equal. </li>
</ol>
<br />
P.S.<br />
The pictures here are very low res because my regular digital camera has been lost, and I am taking stills with a videocamera instead. :PJeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-68658897275606377002013-08-27T10:35:00.000-07:002014-03-02T10:19:58.940-08:00Nitrates from commercial compost 2Ala laConte, I try to get the nitrates to effloresce.<br />
<br />
<h3>
General Process</h3>
<ol>
<li>Place 2 gallons (compacted) of compost in a 5 gal painter's bucket</li>
<li>Add 1 gallon of distilled water</li>
<li>Let stand in warm dry conditions</li>
<li>Add more water</li>
<li>Repeat steps 3 and 4</li>
<li>Observe (or not) efflorescence</li>
</ol>
<h3>
Actual process</h3>
24-Aug-2013: Steps 1-4 complete<br />
27-Aug-2013: After three warm dry days, the compacted soil was still damp-verging-on-wet. I roughed the surface up to give more surface area for evaporation.JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-41055198800245138892013-08-13T10:29:00.000-07:002014-02-20T10:13:35.323-08:00Nitrates from commercial compost 1<h3>Process</h3><br /><ol><li>Place 2 liters (uncompacted) of compost in a stainless steel vessel</li><li>Add 1 gallon of distilled water.</li><li>Wait an hour</li><li>Filter the solution through metal sieves until all the large particles were removed.</li><li>Pour it through paper towels (poor man's filter paper for large quantity jobs)</li></ol><br />A not-very-clear solution remained. It looked a lot like a cross between tea and black coffee. The humus is composted from local waste vegetable material, presumably including things like coffee grounds, tea leaves, and tree bark, all of which could give a soluble brown tincture.<br /><br />I elected to try and precipitate it out using a base (assuming tannic acid and its ilk were the colorants) so I tried chalk, then sodium hydroxide. Neither changed the color significantly.<br /><br /><h3>Results</h3><br />Given a dark and now contaminated sample, I tossed it down the drain.JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-52600427201654069032013-08-11T22:25:00.000-07:002014-02-20T10:13:35.330-08:00Nitrates from commercial compostThis pursuit of nitrates has led me up several blind alleys, but they are an essential material for a variety of other early chemistry experiments. I really don't want to try the Chamber Process without at least <i>some</i> nitrate catalyst. I am torn.<br /><br /><h2>The core problem</h2><h4> </h4><table align="right" style="background: #f0f0f0; border: 0.5em; border: 0.5em; font-size: 80%; margin-left: 1em; width: 25%;"><tbody><tr><th>Nota</th></tr><tr><td>Modern industrial production of nitrates starts with nitric acid.<br /><br />Nitric acid is produced from ammonia through the high pressure high speed platinum-catalyzed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostwald_Process">Ostwald Process</a>. <br /><br />Modern production of ammonia starts with high pressure high speed osmium catalyzed fusing of hydrogen and nitrogen: the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process">Haber Process</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table>Obtaining nitrates is trivial in the modern world, and very complicated in a primitive environment<br /><br />It would be easy to buy a cold pack or some fertilizer with ammonium nitrate in it, dissolve it, mix in some potash, et voilà! Saltpeter! Likewise neutralizing nitric acid with lye. But the thing is, there is essentially no natural source of ammonium nitrate or nitric acid and this is supposed to be a <i>primitive</i> chemistry blog.<br /><br />As usual, space and time are the limiting inputs. If I had a large yard and a twelve to eighteen month timeframe, I could do all this "the right way" and not need to shortcut the system. I was pondering <i>actually</i> switching from renting an apartment to renting a house with a yard when something strange happened: I had an idea.<br /><br /><h2>Someone <i>else</i> do the primitive "hard part"</h2><br />There are various estimates of nitrate per ton of compost, but a consensus figure seems to hover around 1%. <i>Thus 1kg of compost might contain 10g of nitrates.</i><br /><br />This being southern California, there are a lot of community based composting services, because only the <u>very</u> rich can know that everything should be totally natural <i>and</i> completely free. :)<br /><br />Simply buying a bag of "certified organic compost" and leaching it for nitrates would confirm whether or not the basic process worked like all the old texts say it does. So long as there were no high tech steps taken in the composting process and no external additives (neither likely in "organic" compost) it should be valid. There are even a couple of local places I could visit and see what actually went into producing the compost.<br /><br />After a phone call to Agromin to make sure I was buying 100% unadulterated compost, I purchased their (rebranded) EcoScraps compost at a local hardware store.<br /><br /><br /><br />JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-68096884709539086042013-08-09T20:12:00.000-07:002014-02-20T10:13:35.339-08:00Aerobic Vegetable Composting 1After the disheartening math on nitrate production from liquid mammal waste, I decided to do a regular compost based on food scraps. Whether this makes sense or not, I avoided garden clippings in this run because the measured goal is nitrate production. Any fertilizer remaining on the garden clippings would skew the results, showing a false success.<br /><br />With that in mind, I am composting things that humans would eat, not simply vegetation. I expect I'll do a vegetation one as well, and perhaps both varieties supplemented with other materials, but for now I'm just taking the simple route.<br /><br /><h3>Tools and Materials</h3><h3></h3><h4></h4><h4>Organic matter</h4><br />I got the material from several local chain restaurants. I walked in, asked to speak with the manager, and asked if I could get a day's worth of produce scraps from their counter/prep area. Some did prep in the morning, and asked me to come back the next day. Others gathered their scraps all day and asked if I could come back later in the evening. Everyone was quite willing to help.<br /><br />Here's what I ended up with:<br /><ul><li>Lettuce</li><li>Mix of lettuce & other vegetable matter</li><li>Meat scraps </li></ul><h4>The Composter</h4><br />I just used a rolling trash bin I bought at the hardware store. I cut holes in the sides to allow aeration. I considered buying a "real" composter with a horizontally mounted cylindrical drum and a crank on the side, but for my first run I figured something less sophisticated would do. The bottom of the bin was watertight, to prevent solubles from escaping during the composting process.<br /><h3>Process</h3><h4>The pile </h4>Lettuce, cabbage, tomato, and other vegetable scraps have a C:N of about 12, so in order to get out to 20 or 25, I needed some carbon added. I bought a bale of straw from a local pet supply, weighed out Nkg and added it in in layers with the vegetable matter. This was a single-batch process. Everything was added at the same time.<br /><h4>The Weather</h4>August in southern California is sunny, not particularly humid nor arid, and stayed in the 70s and 80s for the entire period. <br /><h3>Results</h3>Catastrophic failure, experiment terminated early. Apparently there was too much animal protein in the mix. By day six the rotting smell was overwhelming and I terminated it. I shall fall back and consider other alternatives, certainly including no animal matter in the next incarnation.JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-33750955334523706792013-05-20T02:18:00.000-07:002014-02-20T10:13:35.345-08:00Paper 1I have only a couple days before I leave on my trip, and I wanted to get something else done before I left, so a quick attempt at paper seemed reasonable. This may seem more craft than chemistry, but filter paper is important later on, so I'm including it here.<br /><br /><b>Raw materials: </b>Dry grass, Potash, Water<br /><b>Tools: </b>A boiling pot, heat, a screen <br /><br />So here's the dry grass. It's really dry. It's been sitting in a box for weeks or longer, waiting for a project to come along. Originally it was going to be compost carbon, then weaving material, but finally it has become paper pulp fiber.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkj2AehEmnkInRmpzbeRM3YfVBMn1urUQzjoLvYOZ3cxqk-3wu0VcDCPgZbIJRVN2PbR_56OT06KCmM2PDbb3cR6b2r6zFpSepI8SYtGJ8L_WVjnyQg7SXv3g-vq6ykxrM0NzXisSeRWMi/s1600/RawGrass.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkj2AehEmnkInRmpzbeRM3YfVBMn1urUQzjoLvYOZ3cxqk-3wu0VcDCPgZbIJRVN2PbR_56OT06KCmM2PDbb3cR6b2r6zFpSepI8SYtGJ8L_WVjnyQg7SXv3g-vq6ykxrM0NzXisSeRWMi/s320/RawGrass.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1 meter stalks of dry California grass</td></tr></tbody></table><h3>Step 1: Remove the nodes</h3>I am not really sure why this is necessary, but all the small-scale references insist on it. I expect that if you're doing large-scale crushing or boiling the nodes break down by themselves, but on this scale it's worth doing the pruning.<br /><br />Break the grass up into lengths with no "inter-segment nodes". That basically means break off the little hard parts where branches or leaves come out. Here is a piece of grass with two nodes circled<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBRTTc32_hdWjAlxCubTCaCVGEAjpqQZOlskjOSW0OTVYJD5w2cNu53FuI30ldTxMp21WJVRmOFswrTUmiaFKciLPZsaUoLxsze2kQT5A9iK4TOisu2mwipi5QPshZuzL1Y7rG6q1nUInH/s1600/CircledNodes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBRTTc32_hdWjAlxCubTCaCVGEAjpqQZOlskjOSW0OTVYJD5w2cNu53FuI30ldTxMp21WJVRmOFswrTUmiaFKciLPZsaUoLxsze2kQT5A9iK4TOisu2mwipi5QPshZuzL1Y7rG6q1nUInH/s320/CircledNodes.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grass with nodes circled</td></tr></tbody></table>And break out the nodes completely, leaving just the stem bit<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8JKT8rTdULN3bf5njhNVFhHzKg9ETzPm_QUiPtzkcQhuV1OvOBuFIXRguguq4KPfoIYcs4aBOXJghaVmMIdSPT7AD5PmLvZjkEbMKeZmZeLPUvvN1g7qbt0VeOg7uIFXgbQsQV4bAuR50/s1600/Stripped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8JKT8rTdULN3bf5njhNVFhHzKg9ETzPm_QUiPtzkcQhuV1OvOBuFIXRguguq4KPfoIYcs4aBOXJghaVmMIdSPT7AD5PmLvZjkEbMKeZmZeLPUvvN1g7qbt0VeOg7uIFXgbQsQV4bAuR50/s320/Stripped.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grass stems</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I am very slow, so after 50 minutes, I had a single thick handful, which I deemed a half liter or so.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhdIuB8RPFPWjTlP-LtMzyq2XL5c_jqmBApJGyq2PRleIFlKU-lLuPd86Do9aIXrigEz5_0cx4zpKioqejGGvtKQjbfZ6nxNxaH-di2NNWAtOwbyJ7mc-rij7-8eRFErTrM1ftqr655uxZ/s1600/1Hr.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhdIuB8RPFPWjTlP-LtMzyq2XL5c_jqmBApJGyq2PRleIFlKU-lLuPd86Do9aIXrigEz5_0cx4zpKioqejGGvtKQjbfZ6nxNxaH-di2NNWAtOwbyJ7mc-rij7-8eRFErTrM1ftqr655uxZ/s320/1Hr.png" width="224" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A handful (~500ml) of straight grass stems</td></tr></tbody></table><h3>Step 2: Prep the Alkali </h3><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_Awi3NWbdl13QFnIhMHZ-BjqejDN6O79nexOlbYQePBR6KiozfNHzC8-gbc84JIwK2IkSg9oPcT2d0hdTwX2WYVjjf7XS9nQiaLo7_fDasUx9bvPv_bZ2_LJ964NETzKxxyuS4KaACUW/s1600/50ml.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_Awi3NWbdl13QFnIhMHZ-BjqejDN6O79nexOlbYQePBR6KiozfNHzC8-gbc84JIwK2IkSg9oPcT2d0hdTwX2WYVjjf7XS9nQiaLo7_fDasUx9bvPv_bZ2_LJ964NETzKxxyuS4KaACUW/s200/50ml.png" width="185" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">50ml Potash</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>WARNING: </b>Do <u>not</u> use aluminum containers when working with alkali. Hot alkali, under the right conditions, can burn right through aluminum. When combined with boiling water, flames, and caustic solutions, this can be bad. Use glass, ceramic, or stainless steel containers.<br /><br />I made a solution of 50ml of loose potash in 1 gal of water. <br /><h3>Step 3: Boil</h3>The handful above contains more than a little woody stem (not wanted) as well as dirt, dust, and other detritus we want to get rid of. Boiling in alkali will separate all of these things for us as well as preparing the fibers themselves. If we were going to bleach the paper, this is the point where we'd do it. I didn't have the materials, so I skipped that step and just did the boiling.<br /><br />I had the stems in the alkali while it came to a boil. After about 30 minutes of boiling, the scent of the steam changed from grassy to distinctly sweet. I held it at a boil for 60 minutes total, replacing the water as it boiled away. After that hour I took it off the fire, poured off the alkali and replaced it with fresh water. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyCkRbHvwSfznI29uk0K65u8YD0mj7_0aq-I0iuA4w_ndNnnNlZt9bUllUh_OmkVraD-Fm1Y4ieEaD0BSiSxNR6cAK07HvgRS2W4yvVAl7FUEMzC8FduoZx7novuMMlfhQ6x7QDt2CNHkz/s1600/LongFiber.png" imageanchor="1" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyCkRbHvwSfznI29uk0K65u8YD0mj7_0aq-I0iuA4w_ndNnnNlZt9bUllUh_OmkVraD-Fm1Y4ieEaD0BSiSxNR6cAK07HvgRS2W4yvVAl7FUEMzC8FduoZx7novuMMlfhQ6x7QDt2CNHkz/s200/LongFiber.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDX_Awsudz4vB5ipi1OzKfw6JJNZGEv5RfN4DjhvMXd9kPzwaj7S6_MvH_Jxy7vbFsB6pG-5iqtOrAheCPPXEwaXsf5h29-TIWNG5hXV49l9tAgEZDiP4ztuxgdk-wNQ_0p6x9zbEsMH7Z/s1600/LongFiberBoil.png" imageanchor="1" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDX_Awsudz4vB5ipi1OzKfw6JJNZGEv5RfN4DjhvMXd9kPzwaj7S6_MvH_Jxy7vbFsB6pG-5iqtOrAheCPPXEwaXsf5h29-TIWNG5hXV49l9tAgEZDiP4ztuxgdk-wNQ_0p6x9zbEsMH7Z/s200/LongFiberBoil.png" width="200" /></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><h3>Step 4: Rinse and Crush</h3>This is pretty straightforward. I'm trying to separate the fibers from the rest of the stuff without making them too short. I used a round wood stick against a flat wood surface, and the stems split and mashed immediately. Even though the stems were still rigid, the fibers themselves were extremely pliable and soft. The integrity of the stems as a whole was entirely an artifact of their geometry as a tube. During the rolling, some individual fibers got caught on the rolling stick and wound themselves up along it providing a very nice yarn which could be removed with a fingernail. The average fiber length at this point was quite long: over 8 cm. <br /><h3>Step 4a: The plan changes </h3><br />The length of the fibers and the fact that they weren't crosslinking (they were staying parallel) gave me pause. I took the stems out and they bent and flattened easily, but the individual fibers stayed attached to their bretheren on the stem until something else snagged them.<br /><br />I decided to alter the experiment mid course: I cut maybe half of the fibers to a length of about 3 cm using a knife and reboiled them in plain water, hoping that this would separate them and let them entangle/mat/felt more.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJEJlNVCQPjsj2kE6BB1nphhyphenhyphenAWoVORyAZedsjoAJvg0cQP085vGzMQlCrQ1rlk-t3hqzPH0k9U8HzHPsEm2TbUlYJ5bmK6YSE6P43cRDvQguRTG_cp-MtBVPvxtNO0hKtN7b5vuEyw_Rj/s1600/MedFiberBoil.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJEJlNVCQPjsj2kE6BB1nphhyphenhyphenAWoVORyAZedsjoAJvg0cQP085vGzMQlCrQ1rlk-t3hqzPH0k9U8HzHPsEm2TbUlYJ5bmK6YSE6P43cRDvQguRTG_cp-MtBVPvxtNO0hKtN7b5vuEyw_Rj/s320/MedFiberBoil.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shorter fibers boiling</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3>Still not convinced</h3>I took handfuls of the fibers and crushed them between two rocks, hoping to see something that looked like paper. Either this is going to take much longer than I expected (multiple hours) or the fibers are way too long. Perhaps more research is in order.<br /><br />JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-71138340401772903722013-04-30T07:48:00.000-07:002014-02-20T10:13:35.354-08:00More saltpeter math - I am enlightened<h3>Rationale</h3>Nitrates are enormously useful compounds, and this blog is about simple chemistry, so investigating simple methods of producing them are extremely relevant. <br /><br /><h3>Conclusions</h3>FIRST: Despite far too many bad internet references about making gunpowder out of urine, I have finally figured out why nobody gives instructions on how to do it. <u>It is, for the most part, impractical.</u><br /><br />SECOND: If what you're looking for is soluble nitrates, it's far easier to use "normal" composting materials like grass clippings and animal products than to try to leverage the urea in urine directly.<br /><br /><h3>The investigation</h3>After doing the math on the <a href="http://bootstrapchemistry.blogspot.com/2013/04/saltpeter-math-urine.html">saltpeter yield</a> and after a lot more research on the <a href="http://bootstrapchemistry.blogspot.com/2013/01/nitrogen-from-composting.html">composting process</a>, I have decided to take another whack at figuring out what it would take.<br /><br /><h4>Target values</h4>Ideal hot, nitrifying composting seems to occur near a C:N ratio of 25 and a moisture content of 40-60%. If there were nothing in the mass that wasn't nitrogen, carbon, or water, the ratios might look like: 40% water, 57.7% carbon, 2.3% nitrogen.<br /><br /><h4>Raw Materials</h4>To produce 1 kg of soluble nitrates, we need 140g of nitrogen. Targeting a C:N of 25, we need 3.5kg (25 x 140g) of carbon. Since straw and sawdust are still 20% moisture, we would need 4.375kg of that material to provide the right amount of carbon to balance out the nitrogen. To get 140g of nitrogen from urea, we need <i></i> 32L of urine, which is essentially 100% water.<br /><br /><table border="4" cellpadding="4" style="margin-left: 3em;"><tbody><tr><th>Material</th><td style="text-align: right; width: 6em;">Urine</td><td style="text-align: right; width: 6em;">Straw or<br />Sawdust</td><td style="text-align: right; width: 6em;">Total</td></tr><tr><th align="left">Nitrogen(g)</th><td align="right">140</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">140</td></tr><tr><th align="left">Carbon(g)</th><td align="right">60</td><td align="right">3440</td><td align="right">3500</td></tr><tr><th align="left">Water(g)</th><td align="right">32000</td><td align="right">875</td><td align="right">32875</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />That would leave a moisture content of 90%. (32875g water vs 36515g total mass)<br /><br /><h4>AHA!</h4>The light has come on. Given the urea content of 32L of urine, we only need 3.5kg of carbon to get the ratio right, but the water content is beyond all reason. That's probably why no one documents urine as anything other than a "de minimus additive".<br /><br /><h4>Forcing the issue</h4><span style="font-weight: normal;"><u>Presuming</u> the 32L could be reduced (boiled down?) to 1.625L (20-to-1 reduction) without loss of nitrogen, the numbers would add up more like</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><br /><table border="4" cellpadding="4" style="margin-left: 3em;"><tbody><tr><th>Material</th><td style="text-align: right; width: 6em;">Urine</td><td style="text-align: right; width: 6em;">Straw or<br />Sawdust</td><td style="text-align: right; width: 6em;">Total</td></tr><tr><th align="left">Nitrogen(g)</th><td align="right">140</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">140</td></tr><tr><th align="left">Carbon(g)</th><td align="right">60</td><td align="right">3440</td><td align="right">3500</td></tr><tr><th align="left">Water(g)</th><td align="right">1625</td><td align="right">875</td><td align="right">2500</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Which gives a moisture content of 40%. (2500g water vs 6140g total mass) Close enough.<br /><br />So if the presumption is valid and you <i>had</i> to do it this way, you'd do something like: <br /><br /><ol><li>Reduce volume of urine to 5% original</li><li>Add 2.3-3 times (by weight) straw or sawdust</li><li>Mix and compost it</li></ol><h4>Nota Bene</h4>Most of the "municipal water purification" references on the web (which also deal with nitrifying bacteria) have an end goal of anaerobic <i>denitrification</i> so the organic nitrogen is ultimately expelled as inert nitrogen gas. In this case, the high water content is no problem.<br /><br /><h3>More practically</h3>Follow the instructions from numerous sources which use fruit, vegetable, and fresh green plant matter. It produces the same nitrates, but doesn't require <i>boiling urine</i>.<br /><br /><h3>References </h3><ul><li>Composting at <a href="http://www.lsuagcenter.com/nr/rdonlyres/1a247d4f-4e94-4021-b09e-2df1043e179e/2908/pub2622compost.pdf">LSU</a></li><li>Composting at <a href="http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/edComm/pdf/CIS/CIS1190.pdf">University of Idaho</a> </li><li>Composting at <a href="http://www.weblife.org/humanure/chapter3_7.html">WebLife.org</a></li></ul>JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-26604887866023600872013-04-27T20:10:00.000-07:002014-03-01T10:47:01.367-08:00Acetone 1 (honey + chalk = acetone)My longest chain to date:<br />
<ul>
<li>Honey + Water + Yeast = Mead</li>
<li>Mead + Acetobacter = Vinegar</li>
<li>Vinegar + Chalk = Calcium Acetate</li>
<li>Dry distilling Calcium Acetate = Acetone</li>
</ul>
Acetone could be used to thin or strip paints, but I think the most likely use is as a recoverable solvent to extract oils from seeds. That would indeed be a labor boon.<br />
<br />
Notes:<br />
<ol>
<li>My original vinegar was made from mead, and thus contained a variety of compounds beyond simple acetic acid. I distilled it, and got a very clear product.</li>
<li>It takes a surprisingly large amount of chalk to slake a relatively small amount of vinegar.</li>
<li>The drying step is by far the longest part. I used a glass pie pan in a 200ºF oven. It took hours. </li>
</ol>
Procedure:<br />
<ol>
<li>Add chalk to vinegar until fizzing stops</li>
<li>Add 10% more chalk than you have already added</li>
<li>Add 100% more water by volume </li>
<li>Filter the mixture to remove undissolved chalk, leaving a calcium acetate solution</li>
<li>Place solution in a shallow bowl and apply <b>gentle</b> heat. (Over 160ºC would break down the acetate)</li>
<li>Collect the calcium acetate</li>
<li>Dry distill the calcium acetate producing acetone.</li>
</ol>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggaeEGgIOmhc5CDXWq3yo7mSdCKx0rMljWu3d6tN4o9gFFIsoCGWgV3_QoeM3iGKrBYx_Xr4EUiKH5ZxWaEx5KBo4fS3pZfEEAsm0ZaofuB9eQ1bBEN1ImpfNzwAYOSeW1qvr7tLBQzuMV/s1600/DistillRigWithCalciumAcetateT.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggaeEGgIOmhc5CDXWq3yo7mSdCKx0rMljWu3d6tN4o9gFFIsoCGWgV3_QoeM3iGKrBYx_Xr4EUiKH5ZxWaEx5KBo4fS3pZfEEAsm0ZaofuB9eQ1bBEN1ImpfNzwAYOSeW1qvr7tLBQzuMV/s320/DistillRigWithCalciumAcetateT.png" height="201" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGu6Lul-qrGZoqbcHIn6iZmxFd2Y26IKjtnHLXDDtvjGezZUnsFZ2YraWwYW5hV4rTfboWMiqWpXntMuCSX4b-0QTja0IDPZGbKeltJgSnP_3A7ISGwwgT61Tj2Jeh6oYZMUUVsBuI9KM/s1600/CalciumAcetateInFlaskT.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGu6Lul-qrGZoqbcHIn6iZmxFd2Y26IKjtnHLXDDtvjGezZUnsFZ2YraWwYW5hV4rTfboWMiqWpXntMuCSX4b-0QTja0IDPZGbKeltJgSnP_3A7ISGwwgT61Tj2Jeh6oYZMUUVsBuI9KM/s320/CalciumAcetateInFlaskT.png" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
<br />
Results: <br />
<ul>
<li>The calcium acetate came out a little dusky rather than totally white.</li>
<li>The distilled acetone came out light brown, but smell and application to styrofoam confirm acetone was present</li>
<li>Much of the solid remained unchanged</li>
</ul>
<br />
Caveats:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Acetone is a <a href="http://bootstrapchemistry.blogspot.com/p/dea-list-ii.html">List II Substance</a></blockquote>
JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-29291672013446541122013-04-23T11:06:00.000-07:002014-02-20T10:13:35.371-08:00Saltpeter math<span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nitrogen: The math</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="font-size: small;">From <a href="http://www.wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia</a>: </span></span><br /><ul><li>Grams of urea in a liter of urine: 9.3</li><li>Molar mass of urea: 60g</li><li>Molar mass of potassium nitrate: 101g</li></ul>Break out the Unit Factor Analysis manual...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjZ5u6lkRdZf4u7I3RZS1Rq0hx7RZdJT6yNFSNBBKieL7nFZCSr5_gnpXFErdD1j9qZ38ThtB1pXLV0_B_r1zugVhWF7dABJ920uApmQ35EvnsluVgyF9TFf5J_GZnqS4mXBWnGKt5kAH/s1600/Math.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="98" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjZ5u6lkRdZf4u7I3RZS1Rq0hx7RZdJT6yNFSNBBKieL7nFZCSr5_gnpXFErdD1j9qZ38ThtB1pXLV0_B_r1zugVhWF7dABJ920uApmQ35EvnsluVgyF9TFf5J_GZnqS4mXBWnGKt5kAH/s320/Math.png" width="320" /></a></div>So to get 1kg of Potassium Nitrate, you would need about 32L of feedstock.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-7218211787102992632013-04-17T10:52:00.000-07:002014-02-20T10:13:35.465-08:00Glycerine 2, Soap 1New attempt:<br /><ul><li>380g <a href="http://boostrapchemistry.blogspot.com/2013/04/tallow-1-beef-fat.html">tallow</a></li><li>5 oz water</li><li>86g store bought lye (WAY too much due to miscalculation)</li></ul><ol><li>added the lye to the water and let it cool.</li><li>melted the fat completely and let it cool for a minute or two</li><li>combined the two and mixed lightly</li><li>poured into a glass container and set aside to cool overnight.</li></ol>Result: still an unseparated emulsion in the morning.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iOWbCQKR9Vw/UXP9X98uLbI/AAAAAAAAAgk/_sAzJWDEA_U/s1600/IMAG0007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="tallow on a scale - 380g" border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iOWbCQKR9Vw/UXP9X98uLbI/AAAAAAAAAgk/_sAzJWDEA_U/s320/IMAG0007.jpg" title="Weighing the tallow" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tallow on the scale</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="4" class="tr-caption-container"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fZRwzzbKqbY/UXP9X18hDMI/AAAAAAAAAgk/-mRQ5LJFqnE/s1600/IMAG0024.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="cloudy solution of lye and water in a beaker" border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fZRwzzbKqbY/UXP9X18hDMI/AAAAAAAAAgk/-mRQ5LJFqnE/s320/IMAG0024.jpg" title="Lye and water mixture" width="180" /></a></td><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r386YqSXHRM/UXP9X4UUnxI/AAAAAAAAAgk/b6UGUQciE5s/s1600/IMAG0022.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Partially melted tallow in a pot" border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r386YqSXHRM/UXP9X4UUnxI/AAAAAAAAAgk/b6UGUQciE5s/s320/IMAG0022.jpg" title="Melting before adding lye" width="180" /></a></td><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gUCyrfvgCeY/UXP9X-YcWjI/AAAAAAAAAgk/U0zqQq10RWE/s1600/IMAG0030.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Unseparated" border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gUCyrfvgCeY/UXP9X-YcWjI/AAAAAAAAAgk/U0zqQq10RWE/s320/IMAG0030.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lye and Water Mixture</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melting before adding lye</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unseparated result</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>After 24 hours it was still pretty much a homogeneous gel, so I "remade" it:<br /><ol><li>melted it over a stove</li><li>added a cup of water (to aid in melting)</li><li>added a cup of vegetable oil (to balance the excess lye)</li><li>left to cool in the metal pot I did the melting in</li></ol>Result: Really granular/void-filled soap, but definitely soap.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zoJy6Jl9VMg/UXP9X6cdJDI/AAAAAAAAAgk/63WIp7_qOEc/s1600/IMAG0037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zoJy6Jl9VMg/UXP9X6cdJDI/AAAAAAAAAgk/63WIp7_qOEc/s320/IMAG0037.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />I also collected about a cup of water and a couple ml of cloudy glycerin<br /><br />The soap was still really granular, and when I squeezed it I got a lot more glycerin. So I divided it into three balls and wrapped them in cheesecloth, then pressed them. This produced dryer soap and more glycerin, but not much more water.<br /><br />Next note: Decanting two separated liquids is hard without the right equipment. I think that if I were doing this at scale I'd probably find it useful to make some specialized equipment<br /><br />Day 6: The balls of soap are still in their cloth and still very slick. I think they're still exuding a bit of glycerin. But they do work as soap.<br /><br />Day 20: The soap is now hard enough to be considered ready<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV_5GKMFk2VO7HOfogOHTXcZnZL8I8l3ShlvkvMWHnVPHaNPoaT2VT2MuaX-d2vfOjOVyvR9q_4ifGCorUKjcz1oj9QZAFdBb9QJMT-23XJnRv5LdfNOsgsZXAXTt5Pk8B_9RVU4S5kxOp/s1600/Soap1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV_5GKMFk2VO7HOfogOHTXcZnZL8I8l3ShlvkvMWHnVPHaNPoaT2VT2MuaX-d2vfOjOVyvR9q_4ifGCorUKjcz1oj9QZAFdBb9QJMT-23XJnRv5LdfNOsgsZXAXTt5Pk8B_9RVU4S5kxOp/s320/Soap1.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />P.S.<br />Lye is hard to find these days. Went to 2 hardware stores, a supermarket and 2 drugstores. No dice. Ordered it from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">Amazon</a> instead. Easy. JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-25448837788330068932013-01-23T11:09:00.000-08:002014-02-20T10:13:35.572-08:00Nitrogen from compostingPosted nitrogen-fixing question to four composting forums:<br /><ul><li><a class="postlink" href="http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/soil/msg0119452912007.html">Garden Web</a></li><li><a class="postlink" href="http://www.helpfulgardener.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=286014">Helpful Gardener</a></li><li><a class="postlink" href="http://www.dirtdoctor.com/newforum/root/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21868">Dirt Doctor</a></li><li><a class="postlink" href="http://www.permies.com/t/21257/composting/Beginning-mind">Permies</a></li></ul>But no particularly applicable experience/data. It seems like I'm asking people about the right problem at the wrong scale. I shall look elsewhere.JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-20936267897836617592012-12-31T10:22:00.000-08:002014-02-20T10:13:35.665-08:00Ethanol 3 (mead)Day 1 (Dec 31): Started new batch of mead: 24oz of honey in 1gal. Some problems.<br />- It appears to have been too much honey, since not all of it dissolved.<br />- The red-star yeast again failed to "head", but again was anarobic within 24 hours.<br />Day 3 (Jan 2): Fizzing like mad. Far more effervescent than soda. All trace of excess honey is gone.<br />Day 5 (Jan 4): Same state.<br />Day 8 (Jan 7): Still going strong. 1 bubble (at least 1cc) every 10s or so. Rate could be twice that.<br />Day 10 (Jan 9): Fizzing waned yesterday, and continues to wane today. Large yeast sediment at the bottom of the container.<br />Day 12 (Jan 11): Weak effervescence, significantly clearer solution.<br />Day 17 (Jan 16): Still bubbling very slightly. Looks almost like apple juice clarity-wise.<br />Day 22 (Jan 21): Faint effervescence still present. Probably done within 1-2 days.<br />Day 27 (Jan 26): No fiz for two days. Decanting. The substance is as clear or clearer than storebought apple juice. Sp Gr: 0.994<br />My vinometer (not a very accurate measure) says it's about 15% alcohol by volume, which is 12% by mass.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTa-fA3AB-kOvrVQ6v6Lr4Xll3DBJr2HkCp0C4yaWmQidTk_4_kH7oQZC-4NZj-oVgTidnLALZf7usDScHUrcfKs5yEb1N9S1tk6IaTCzvdpLdBqaLS5JVUOq4gx0SZut_pMeRhclp1_0E/s1600/Mead-1-29-13s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTa-fA3AB-kOvrVQ6v6Lr4Xll3DBJr2HkCp0C4yaWmQidTk_4_kH7oQZC-4NZj-oVgTidnLALZf7usDScHUrcfKs5yEb1N9S1tk6IaTCzvdpLdBqaLS5JVUOq4gx0SZut_pMeRhclp1_0E/s320/Mead-1-29-13s.jpg" width="172" /></a></div>JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-82838150397714529172012-12-29T10:33:00.000-08:002014-02-20T10:13:35.774-08:00Potash 2<div class="content">Another run, this time being more careful to filter insolubles, <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> crystals being formed. Yield 7.6%.</div>JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-41948140451350090002012-12-23T10:50:00.000-08:002014-03-01T10:49:43.974-08:00Glycerin 1I attempted to create glycerin today using some "suspect" lye (a brown powder produced from potash rather than a white one from the store) and some beef tallow.<br />
<br />
I melted the tallow in a pot, and mixed in double that volume of water, in which I had dissolved a half mole of lye. A white fluffy-looking layer immediately formed on top of the mixture, which I suspected might be a soft soap. But when I tested it, it was still very greasy, and very alkaline.<br />
<br />
I set the whole mixture aside and let it cool. This took a surprisingly long time. (I think the alkali was still doing its thing and generating heat) After a bit I put it in the fridge to accelerate the cooling. Later I returned to find no glycerin layer at all, and a strongly alkaline and greasy layer where I had expected to find soap. I mixed in enough vinegar to neutralize the mixture, and set it aside to settle again. Two hours later there were still only two layers, when I had been expecting three.<br />
<br />
I suspect I either used an inappropriate amount of lye, or that the lye was contaminated.JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-90932947098482359362012-12-23T10:34:00.000-08:002014-03-01T10:52:32.709-08:00Lye 1I attempted to make lye today, with questionable results.<br />
<br />
I mixed 1/2 mol of <a href="http://bootstrapchemistry.blogspot.com/2012/12/quicklime-2.html">quicklime</a> in water, and got the expected:<br />
<ol>
<li>Sizzling reaction</li>
<li>Exothermic reaction heated water</li>
<li>Flocculant result</li>
</ol>
I then added 1/2 mol of slightly suspect potash (it's brown rather than white, see <a href="http://boostrapchemistry.blogspot.com/2012/12/i-was-on-verge-of-just-buying-some.html">potash discussion</a>) and got pretty much what I expected: a chalk precipitate and a slightly brownish liquid. I had used a lot of water, so the boil-down took forever. I stopped when I had maybe twice as much fluid as it would take to dissolve a half mole of lye, and transferred the liquid to another vessel, figuring that the precipitates so far would be something other than lye. Boiling the remainder dry gave a dark brown paste, then powder. It was highly alkaline.JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-10661436516190059752012-12-22T10:47:00.000-08:002014-02-20T10:13:36.092-08:00Quicklime 2This time around it was 50g of chalk in and a couple hours on "high" in the kiln. 28g of lime came out. Since the ratio of molecular weights of calcium carbonate to calcium oxide is 100:56, that is dead on correct. Huzzah.<br /><br />Day 14: in a clay pot with a loose lid, it appears to have reverted completely.JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6211144797056158554.post-65955987643072783142012-12-22T10:30:00.000-08:002014-02-20T10:13:36.186-08:00Potash 1I was on the verge of just buying some firewood and burning it in a convenient fireplace (rather a waste because it's summer, and quite warm) when I was struck by an idea: I wonder if that wood-fired pizza place down the street does anything with their ash? Indeed they did not, and while I did get a strange look or two, I walked out with about 35lbs of ash and charcoal ends.<br /><ul><li>I filled a big stainless steel (<span style="font-style: italic;">not aluminum!</span>) pot with 8lb of the mixture (about 1/3 full)</li><li>I topped it to 2/3 with water.</li><li>I stirred it thoroughly with a wooden spoon</li><li>Immediately large chunks of charcoal floated to the surface, and I picked them out and discarded them</li><li>I left the rest to sit for a while, coming back to stir it occasionally</li><li>After an hour, the top was covered with small unburnt wood & charcoal, which I strained off and discarded.</li><li>I used a ladle to dip out the clear fluid from the top of the container</li><li>I added more water, stirred, and repeated the process after another hour.</li><li>After 2 more repeats of the process, I had about 2L of potash solution</li><li>I discarded the wet ash</li><li>I put the liquid in some glass oven trays and dried it</li></ul>The potash liquor (direct from the ash) is a honey-to-dark-brown color, and the potash is light brown (more like sand than salt).<br /><br />Since potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate are both white crystals, I assume the brown stuff is some sort of impurity. I tried dissolving the potash in alcohol, to no avail. Neither the potash nor the brown component dissolved in it. Other people seem to have had the same problem:<br /><br /><a class="postlink" href="http://cavemanchemistry.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=8037&sid=790244adb07fe3654c88fc9c7e416ca8">at Caveman Chemistry</a><br /><a class="postlink" href="http://forum.alchemyforums.com/showthread.php?477-Extraction-of-K2CO3-from-Wood-Ashes">at Alchemy Forums</a><br /><br />Some agricultural forums talk about "red" potash, containing iron impurities. Ferric sulfate has a sort of pinkish-brown color, but is "negligibly soluble" in water. Ferric nitrate is a very light pink. Iron carbonate is exactly the right brown color, but is totally insoluble in water (as are most carbonates). Ferric chloride has a variety of interesting characteristics (it's yellow, or green, or pinkish-purple) and it's soluble in water. So the mystery continues. JeffEvartshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01110136459320492803noreply@blogger.com0