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Petrified Aluminum Powder


tenneyguy

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I have a jar, with air-tight screw-cover, of Aluminum Dark powder. It has been sitting undisturbed for many years (>10), except for one instance of transit in moving.

 

Recently, I "got the bug" again, and wanting to make up some powder, I opened the jar, to find the contents was rock-solid! Couldn't even loosen it with a screwdriver.

 

Has anyone had similar experience? All I can think of is contamination with something from the supplier. Finally breaking a bit loose, I found my mortar and pestle felt like it was crushing grains of sand. Years ago it burned almost instantly in the open, say 10 grams, KClO4, Al, S. Now, it is difficult to ignite, and burns a similar pile in perhaps 6-7 seconds.

 

Any ideas?

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  • 4 months later...

Yes ,I have received al that was either stored improperly or for a long period of time (usually school labs) . Most all of the prob is moisture contamination. It's a bitch to get back to a fine powder. Probably a ball mill with zirc, or ceramic, steel shot, etc to get it back to serviceable powder for reactive mixs. Some times you can get lucky if it's not to petrified, and rub it through a fine screen.

I noticed no one responded to your post ... Thought I'd throw some ideas out there for ya

Edited by pyrojig
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Not with aluminum powder, but I have a steel can of "solidified" manganese powder. It's hard as a brick and the only reason I haven't tossed it out is that I hope one day to find a way to powder it again.

 

We'll see...

 

WSM B)

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Could hammer it apart , then blade mill it . If it's blackened all the way through it'll probably be no good(oxidized); although you could try to ball mill it . To get a fresh surface... worth a shot.
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  • 2 months later...

Could hammer it apart , then blade mill it . If it's blackened all the way through it'll probably be no good(oxidized); although you could try to ball mill it . To get a fresh surface... worth a shot.

 

 

Blackened? Remember, I said manganese, not magnesium. If you misunderstood, don't worry; it's a common mistake.

 

Oh, and NO, I don't have a secret pyrotechnics use for manganese powder. I just got a multi-pound can of it once, long ago and still have it.

 

WSM B)

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