It's been too long since my last blog. Most of the stuff I've been doing hasn't been worthy of note. Even worse, I couldn't find my camera! I've been using a Sony CD Mavica for years, and it has a great lense that does good macro work. Scouring the house for days, I was totally frustrated. Then, for some odd reason, I entered my teenage son's room, despite the mess. Young APC'ers, enlighten me, why does a teen not mind living in filth? It baffles me. How can your soul find peace when sur
It has been a long road, but I now have two anodes plated... one of them looking fairly sad, while the other looks excellent. The weather has NOT cooperated, and in addition to the physical discomfort (cold!), there are process issues as well. Jugs of distilled water are ice cold, and the hot bath (60 to 70 degrees C) must really struggle to maintain heat. Evaporation from the bath is at a ferocious rate. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself. I've spent probably a month preparing for this
With the huge harvest from T-Cell Junior (over 4 kg dry potassium chlorate) I now have about 15 pounds of this oxidizer, and I am ready to move on to the Lead dioxide experiments that really got me interested in the (per)chlorate process in the first place. There is a particular U.S. patent (4038170) that goes into tremendous detail on plating this substance, which is an ideal material for the electrochemical oxidation of chlorate to perchlorate, with one glaring problem... it doesn't stick wor
I start with the Collection Chamber, the CC. The sheer quantity of material needed to pull off the "T-Cell" is greater than one might think. Over the last week or two, I have been doing drawings, conceptualizing, and making a list of materials needed, because once I start, I hate having to pause in the middle of the process and order some forgotten component. The first major component is a good pump for circulation of the electrolyte. This is a peristaltic pump on steroids from Cole Palmer,
One of the most critical things you can do when you manufacture perchlorates is to ensure that your product is, in fact, free of chlorate contamination. There's no reason to bother converting your chlorate to perchlorate if you are not going to clean it up... you may as well use the chlorate itself. There are a few methods to test for chlorate. I am not going to go into them in detail, except for one. Suffice it to say that none of them is totally simple AND sensitive. It's not like dippin
Since I have already named a cell the "Super Cell", I need a name for the next generation of (per)chlorate system. Pretty presumptuous, but all in good fun. An online thesaurus brought up transcendent, a pretty cool word, since I can shorten it to "T-Cell." T-Cell it is. I've learned a lot about production in the weeks I've been at this, and this cell is going to take some effort. When it is complete, I think the only limiting factor will be power. It'll have many of the bells and whistle
This is going to be the LAST "Harvest" blog I do, because it is getting repetitious. This one is worth detailing a bit because it has gone up to a scale where new and different techniques are required to successfully gather and clean the chlorate crop. It will also show portions of the T-Cell that succeeded, and failed, spectacularly. Subsequent blog entries will deal more with specifics, and with perchlorate conversion. I've got enough KClO3 to feed a perchlorate cell for a long time! Fro
The last three days have been very, very busy for me with regards to this project. I had hoped to have the system running Monday. Instead, it was Wednesday before I finally had everything put together, and ready to plug in. The odd thing is this - I don't have any pictures of the entire system once it was running! Just individual pictures, snippets here and there. The lead-up to this was pretty lengthy, work-intensive, and frankly, expensive. One of the reasons I waited was the delivery
Before this thing can get wet, there are a lot of fiddly things to take care of, one of the primary being a secure, well-sealed anode. In a previous blog, I mentioned how chemically resistant hardened "Sculpey" type clays are to the electrolyte in a (per)chlorate cell. These clays come in a variety of shades, brand names, firmness, etc. When I first thought about this, I bought three or four small samples from a local art and craft store. Of the samples, Fimo soft polymer clay was the easies
The blog entries have been coming fast and furious. If you haven't seen the one from yesterday, well, it's still there. I've come a ways, from a crummy, claptrap cell, to a decently performing system... http://www.5bears.com/perc/tp03.jpg It works well, but... it's too small, and too labor-intensive. I want to execute an awesome homemade cell, one that probably replicates many of the features found industrially but on a smaller scale. I have some ideas, but I'd really like some outsid
I've finally got some days off, and on Monday, 3 Nov 2008, I'm going to launch this monster! With the end in sight, I've started final plumbing, anode work, and what is turning into an amazing amount of pneumatic tubing for agitation AND venting. I've got two sealed containers... both of them need to be vented, and both of them need to be agitated, or stirred, for proper function. Thanks to TheSidewinder, I can now pretty much flood this blog with photos! Photos are always more interestin
With four excellent KClO3 batches under my belt, I figured it was time to move on to additional processing. Those apparently "in the know" on various forums claim that a good MMO anode will make KClO3 that really doesn't need further refinement. The first and simplest test was to take some of the raw crystals from the cell, and test them for residual chloride, as KCl salt. These rough crystals have had only the lightest of washings when harvested, as I did not want to dissolve too much of the
I still had a bit of work to do on the electronic hydraulic pressure gauge system, and the result, I think, is worth a blog entry. If you haven't read the background on this thing, read my entry on the 9th of April for the whole story. Any gauge for hydraulic pressure is going to suck and be a pain to use if it is not convenient. With the transducer in its current disk-shaped form, it was going to be very difficult to utilize. I decided, then, to encase the transducer in two massive blocks
With the great success of the Bucket Cell Adapter, it is finally time to put the Lead Dioxide anode to the test. At last! From January 2009, the birthdate of this anode: Lead Dioxide - Plated! It was definitely a pretty serious effort, and I have had this anode (anode #2; #1 was crumbly and worthless due to Bismuth) hanging on a hook on the lab wall, waiting, saying "Use me! Uuuuse me!" every time I looked at it. I am so hopeful for it, that I think I have delayed its use because if it fal
Based upon a thread that discusses BP in general and the "CIA" BP precipitation method in particular, I decided to check the various speeds of BP, including a CIA batch carefully prepared according to the directions in Tom Perigrin's book, "Introductory Practical Pyrotechnics." All of the homemade powders were 75:15:10. The CIA powder used Skylighter commercial airfloat charcoal, which is going to slow it down. The remainder used willow charcoal from the Custom Charcoal guy. Each sample wa
This is going to be short and sweet.! Anyone who has created what might be called a true, "serious" (per)chlorate production cell tends to take time to make the cell durable, functional, gas tight, and above all, maintainable. 99% of the anodes available are electrically connected via a sheet metal strap, usually titanium. These are easy to create, weld, and connect to the power supply. But they suck at being maintainable and gas tight. It is easy to cut a thin slot in a similarly thin
It's been a long time since I've done a blog entry. I know a lot of people are following the perchlorate adventure - believe it or not, I still have not tested the lead dioxide anode. It is bagged and hanging from a hook on the wall. With the arrival of summer, as any homeowner knows, there is always work to be done that gets in the way.. real work. We had a massive storm this spring that dropped a 50 foot pear tree across a neighbor's fence. Stuff like that gets in the way of life. Anywa
There are two bothersome problems when you use a traditional strap of titanium to deliver current to either the anode or the cathode in a (per)chlorate cell. The first, and most troublesome, is the cutting and sealing of an appropriate slot in the lid of your cell for a strap that measures perhaps 1mm x 25mm. In thin plastic, it is not too much of an issue. In 1/2" thick PVC plastic, it is frankly a bitch, and regardless of your cell lid thickness, ultimately, the electrode strap will be flop
If you haven't been keeping up, (and if you care... ) I have been blogging fast and furious while the LD anode is undergoing its first real test. If you'd like, it might be worth going back about a week to catch up. This entry will be more pictures, less text. Basically, a few of the warts on one edge had broken off and fallen to the bottom of the cell. While not catastrophic, this had me concerned, as it hinted that the integrity of the anode was not what I had hoped for. A greater conc
He MUST be a druggie... I think we've all become a bit frustrated trying to acquire legal chemicals and supplies both for Pyrotechnics, and for legitimate research at home. There is a powerful prejudice against ANYTHING smacking of home chemistry. We are forced to tip-toe, speak quietly, and behave ourselves lest we be accused of being a druggie or a k3wl bomber. The scenario: I have a legitimate, Texas-based corporation. I work out of a detached metal building. I don't have a giant res
This is going to be a boring blog entry... the main purpose is to show that yes, the project is still underway, and progress is being made. The scope and complexity of this project has really grown. I'm looking at a potential rat's nest of tubes, wires, cables, etc, many of which, if they leak, could be disastrous. I think of myself as an organized guy. My wife would call me obsessed with order, and she's probably right. My chemicals are incredibly tidy, labeled with a Dymo "Letra-tag", an
With the new software fully installed, we now have the option to BLOG! How cool is that? Now, I have a proper destination for my verbose ramblings related to all things pyrotechnic, and also for, perhaps, other topics not necessarily related to Pyro. Note the title. Be sure to mentally overlay your best nagging Mom voice... "WHAT is THAT??!! WHAT are you doing! You'll PUT YOUR EYE OUT!" Note that it is almost always "eye", singular, not "eyes." I guess Moms in general cannot even concei
If you haven't been reading this blog, you may want to go back a few days to put it all into context. The entries are coming fast and furious! I've had a few days off from work, so I was able to put some focused effort into this beast. The placement of the electrodes really had me stymied. The cathode is necessarily massive... two 25mm wide titanium strips had to enter a 4" cylinder, AND it had to be air and water-tight. Ditto for the anode, although its shank was much smaller. In additio
Where is everyone? This is my third blog entry, and only Frozentech has started another? I must not have a life... I'm more interested, I guess, in babbling on about Pyro stuff. Come on, let's see some pics! Having them accompanied by pyro ramblings is a bonus! http://www.5bears.com/bmk/tbmk01.jpg A while back on the forum, I started a thread called "The Ultimate Ball Mill" or something along those lines. I solicited input from experienced Pyros on what they'd like to see in a qualit
And a fine crop it is. For those unaware, I have been experimenting with chlorate and perchlorate cells for a short time now, on two fronts - the first is the well-known and understood production of both of these salts using an electrochemical cell. Just a few short years ago, the only way to make chlorates and perchlorates (the latter being almost essential in fireworks) was to make your own electrode set, and anyone who has attempted to do so understands the magnitude of the problem. The an
