minstarmin Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 (edited) So I'm new to all this. I was trying out random mixtures today, basically adding anything to anything to see if it would go boom. I mixed some KNO3 with coffee, shook it for maybe 20 seconds, and lit it. POP! And it was shooting yellowish purple flames! It smelled great too. It seems similar enough to R-CANDY, just with coffee instead of sugar, and not baked. I'll do some more experimentation later. Edited February 15, 2016 by minstarmin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stix Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Why do you want to do this? I like my coffee strong, but that is going a bit too far!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minstarmin Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 Why do you want to do this? I like my coffee strong, but that is going a bit too far!!It can never be too strong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stix Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 This thread should be moved to the:"Random Discussions & Weird Experiments" section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 (edited) Why, coffe is just good as long the spoon can stand upright in it. Btw. dry yeast also gives a nice and clean pottasium violett color. Edited February 15, 2016 by Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nessalco Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Frankly, randomly mixing substances is not a good idea, unless you are working with tiny amounts and using some very good safety precautions. Kevin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloyd Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 May I just kick in a comparison, so you can see what you're actually doing, Minstarmin? Most seem to take this 'experiment' of yours lightly, but it's the stuff of which 7th-grade chemistry experiments are made! Most anything we eat can be a pyrotechnic fuel (for better or worse).  Almost all foods we humans eat are carbohydrate-based, protein-based, fats, or cellulosic. Carbohydrates -- starches, sugars; things we call in our diets "Fuels", and fuels they really are. Almost all will burn extremely well with common pyrotechnic oxidizers. proteins -- meats, meat-derived things like gelatin, soy protein (tofu). These are heavy on nitrogen and hydrogen content, with some carbon. They don't make great pyrotechnic fuels because the carbon is well-bound, and the gasses tend to dissociate with difficulty and carry away heat as they do -- but they will burn. Fats -- hydrocarbons, oils... if it burns in a lamp, it'll burn with pyrotechnic oxidizers. "Unsaturated" food fats closely resemble other hydrocarbons like petroleum oils, all but for the precise molecular structures, and like petroleums, they make good fuels. Cellulosic materials - fibrous veggies. Wood meal (yeah, that's in a lot of food!). These are the substances we burn in fireplaces, and char into charcoal. Their primary contribution as fuels is in their carbon content.  Almost anything you can consume as human food, once dried, will also burn with a pyrotechnic oxidizer. You've heard the expression "burning calories"? It's not an idle comment. Lloyd 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeee Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 If I drink too many cups of coffee it can have an explosive effect on my daily routine. A coffee shop should be able to supply you with an endless supply of coffee grounds.Since they roast coffee beans you could most likely make a black powder from the ground dried roasted beans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memo Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 french roast only Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minstarmin Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 Most seem to take this 'experiment' of yours lightlyNot lightly, I used medium roast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloyd Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Ok. I know when I've wasted effort. It never happens twice! <G>Lloyd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ubehage Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Ok. I know when I've wasted effort. It never happens twice! <G>LloydI know what you mean For what it's worth, I always enjoy reading your thoroughly explaining posts. /Ubehage 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nessalco Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Back when I flew high power rockets, I made a rocket motor (700 NS) that used hard salami as the fuel, and liquid nitrous oxide as the oxidizer. Flew great, smelled good - what more could you ask? Kevin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taiwanluthiers Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I thought there is a device called a "bomb calorimeter" which they burn the food and measure the heat released from its combustion to determine the caloric value of the food. The coffee bomb makes it a literal bomb calorimeter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schroedinger Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Taiwan, yes a bomb caloriemeter can be used to determine the fuel value of food (annother is e, g. a flame calorimeter).The thing that gets called the "bomb" actually is nothing else then a very thick walled pressure chamber. Into this a pellet gets inserted, with a pressed in wire for igniting it. The whole bomb gets flooded with an excess of oxigen to make it burn clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stix Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 (edited) Taiwan, yes a bomb caloriemeter can be used to determine the fuel value of food (annother is e, g. a flame calorimeter).The thing that gets called the "bomb" actually is nothing else then a very thick walled pressure chamber. Into this a pellet gets inserted, with a pressed in wire for igniting it. The whole bomb gets flooded with an excess of oxigen to make it burn clean. Some 30 or more years back (gulp!), when I was just starting to experiment with different fuels for rocket motors, a pyro friend and I made a bomb calorimeter. The device was pretty much as Schroed's explains above. We didn't have the means to charge the chamber with 'O' so just left it at atmospheric pressure, the results were good enough to prove a direction to go in. The device was inserted into a large container of water. The container was heavily insulated and had an accurate thermometer and included a 'stirring' mechanism to ensure there was even distribution. The fuel was ignited, the water heated up and readings were taken at intervals. What Lloyd is talking about is absolutely correct. Food has a Calorific value (Kilojoules) - we convert it into energy for our own purposes like living. Some of those fuels can successfully be used as rocket fuel, like r-candy (which is an area I enjoy). Didn't the Mythbusters use a Salami to make a rocket motor? - not that successful if I remember correctly, but the idea was there. The information researched for making the calorimeter was obtained from one of those biggish looking buildings that contained lots of mostly rectangular shaped objects made from repeating layers of thin dried pulped wood... called paper. I believe they called them books. These days we can get all the info we need by learned people on a forum like this one - which I believe makes us all safer. Regardless, if you are so hell bent on mucking around with KNO3 and coffee or any other ingredients, just make sure you experiment with small amounts and ask questions here. Cheers. Edited February 21, 2016 by stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ubehage Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 (edited) .....Didn't the Mythbusters use a Salami to make a rocket motor? - not that successful if I remember correctly, but the idea was there......Yes. It was a successful launch, but didn't quite fulfill the myth from the civil war. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLX_9YVXWgc Edited February 21, 2016 by Ubehage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stix Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Ok, plausible is good enough for me - gotta love the Mythbusters 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PIL Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Ok, plausible is good enough for me - gotta love the Mythbusters I love Mythbusters too.Some pyro-related episodes including the chlorate exploding pants,thermite and cremora fireballs look spectacular when they ramped up the scale. They once tried to make smoke bomb,but end up igniting RCandy accidentally in the cooking pan. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ubehage Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 I love Mythbusters too.Some pyro-related episodes including the chlorate exploding pants,thermite and cremora fireballs look spectacular when they ramped up the scale.They once tried to make smoke bomb,but end up igniting RCandy accidentally in the cooking pan.I couldn't stop laughing when I watched that episode...That was just TOO DAMN STUPID! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrB Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Ok, plausible is good enough for me - gotta love the Mythbusters To bad the last season airs now. 10 (11, depending on if you count the season opening, that had no actuall myths, or busting) episodes, 7 of which have been aired, with only 3 more to go...On the upside, i just watched episode 7, where they (again) play around with rocket engines. As not to spoil the busting, i left out the details, but as so often, i've been screaming at the scream, about things they did wrong...B! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyegasm Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 I just wanted to agree with Lloyd here. The magic word here is hydrocarbon. Just about every kind of it can be exothermicly reacted. Some easier, some harder. French roast may actually be better since it is dark roasted and somewhat closer to charcoal. Chemistry is amazing in all forms. But I prefer my coffee without added oxidizer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipiso Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 Nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinCannon Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 The chaf from roasting green coffee beans is pretty flamable stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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