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axehandle
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Back again from a tedious vacation.
But where I was, with little to no Internet access, I managed to get hold of some metal lathe time, a couple of pieces of aluminum, and threading
tools in the mean time, so I made this between meals. It's an aluminum rod with a 5mm diameter hole right through it and with both ends threaded.
I also made an endcap. It's meant for sulfur refilling the burner, and will simply by screwed in place in the lid once the latter is cast,
drilled, and threaded.
The cap is simply a cylinder of aluminum, half drilled through and threaded by hand.
I also made this. It's a coil made from 0.5mm diameter Kanthal D NiCr wire, using a piece of 2mm thick welding rod, a drill press and lots of
patience. There's about 25 meters of NiCr wire there. I intend to use it with the burner vessel for sulfur melting, coltrolled by a 150..160 C
bimetal thermostat I ordered and which will arrive on Tuesday. The resistance of the coil is a whopping 75 ohms, which means that my burner pre-heater
will use 645W, all automagically controlled by the thermostat (BTW, <b>this</b> is why I made the vessel so bulky --- to even out
temperatures. Aluminum is my favorite metal. It's soooo wonderfully heat conducting, and easy to work with too. In case anyone was wondering  )
PS: I'm glad to be back. Being without access to my 10Mbit line was horrible. It will also be very nice to talk to you all again.
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Saerynide
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How do you thread stuff by hand? 
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Tacho
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You must have some strange vacations. How did you get some "metal lathe time"?
Those pieces are beauties.
I could use some lathe time myself!
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axehandle
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Saerynide: With HSS tools, patience and brute force . Anything can be threaded
(well, as long as it's lower on the hardness scale than the tool, and not made of glass or something like that).
Tacho: Thanks. Now comes the hard part --- embedding the coil in a clay spiral for the integral burner heating plate *shudder*.
Edit: And oh, by the way, for the exhaust heater.... your amazing salt thermostat finally will be put to use!
Edit2: And as for how you get metal lathe time...: 1) Get a girlfriend who's father has his basement full of metal shop tools. 2) Fix his
computer. 3) Suck up to him really good.
Edit3: BTW, I found this. I don't know if it works, but if it does it will come in handy for temperature calibration:
Edit4: I'm making more catalyst. Lots of it. My eye hurts from gaseous ammonia.... *sob*
Edit5: I've done some research on materials for the piping and couplings. The only realistic metal to use is Al, since it's completely
impervious to hot SO2/SO3. Copper is heavily attacked. Unfortunately, it means I'll have to go and buy a very expensive 6 meter length of 10x3.0
pipe, as well as suitable threading tools. My wallet hurts.... 
[Edited on 2004-4-11 by axehandle]
[Edited on 2004-4-11 by axehandle]
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axehandle
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Progress, progress.
I've cast half of the exhaust heater. In doing so, I managed to set fire to the table, the towel I grabbed the crucible handle with, and my
welder's gloves.
It's the first and hopefully last time I'm forced to complete a molten aluminum pouring while on fire.
Pictures and a drawing of my intended manufacturing method will come as soon as the damned thing has cooled down, and I've stopped coughing.
Hopefully none of my neighbours have called the police....
I'm seriously considering covering that table with alumina or firebricks. 
Edit01: I think I (albeit being an idiot) still deserve some credit for managing to continue casting while on fire. I think most people would panic.
Edit02: I've decided against buying Al tubing. Instead I'll melt aluminum in an iron pipe (clamped at the bottom) and simply dip copper pipe
in the molten Al. Then it becomes resistant to both SO2 and SO3, as well as H2SO3 and H2SO4. And I won't have to dehydrate the burner air! Now
I'll make my drawing.
Edit03: Ok, here's the plan for the heater. So far I've done step 1:
Edit04: Here's the bottom part. It's 170x125mm and 10mm thick:
[Edited on 2004-4-12 by axehandle]
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Tacho
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I'm sorry if you already mentioned it, but I don't feel like reading the whole thread: Are you sure hot SO2 attacks copper?
If not, you could put 5/15" copper tube instead of that clay turd. You buy this tube in any air conditioning supply. I guess it's also used
to transport gas to stoves and heaters. I have a feeling that clay will not come out easily.
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Tacho
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Sorry to clog your thread axe, but I've been messing around with FTP software, and I need a place to test a new way of uploading pictures, so
I'm showing whoever reads this how the thermostat look like:
I must confess this FTP thing is new to me. I stopped my evolution at Turbo Pascal 7.0 for DOS. Did some nice real-time connections with the parallel
(printer) port. They don't use printer ports anymore, do they? It's this USB thing now!
Ah! those were the days...
[Edited on 13-4-2004 by Tacho]
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Saerynide
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Good job casting while on fire Reminds me of the time I had to hold on a pot
that was roasting on the stove for the last 10 min (with my bare hands ) because I
didnt have a place to put it, and if i dropped it, Id have lost my dinner. My fingers where burned shiny... ouch....
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axehandle
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Clay soluability etcetera
| Quote: |
I'm sorry if you already mentioned it, but I don't feel like reading the whole thread: Are you sure hot SO2 attacks copper?
If not, you could put 5/15" copper tube instead of that clay turd. You buy this tube in any air conditioning supply.
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Very sure. I searched for 2 hours and finally found a graduate level paper on it.
| Quote: |
I guess it's also used to transport gas to stoves and heaters. I have a feeling that clay will not come out easily.
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I've reached the same conclusion. However, if I were to mix the clay with copious amounts of NaCl or KCl, I might have a winner. The best thing
would probably be to cast the entire spiral out of molten NaCl (MP ~= 800C), but this will be difficult, I'm afraid...
What I need is a material that's easy to shape, can take 700C without decomposing, and that is soluable in water. I have lots of thinking to do.
| Quote: |
I must confess this FTP thing is new to me. I stopped my evolution at Turbo Pascal 7.0 for DOS. Did some nice
real-time connections with the parallel (printer) port. They don't use printer ports anymore, do they? It's this USB
thing now!
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Not so! I've never seen a motherboard without a parallel port. I actually even used my Linux computer to drive a PWM circuit interfaced with the
parallel port. I can send you the source code if you want.
Besides, I hate USB with a vengeance. Much harder to build an external circuit for.
------------
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...Reminds me of the time I had to hold on a pot that was roasting on the stove for the last 10 min (with my bare
hands) because I didnt have a place to put it, and if i dropped it, Id have lost my dinner. My fingers where burned
shiny... ouch....
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Been there, done that... more than one time
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TheBear
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This post contains no scientific information, and can be disregarded by those who only seek facts.
Axehandle I have to say that I'm very impressed by this project. Since I live in the same country as you I know of the troubles surrounding
acquisition of H2SO4. I just got to say: Keep up the good work!
For once I think I'm seeing a project that will be finnished since you seem to have the right attitude: insanely stubborn. Now a couple of
questions: Will you publish a complete tutorial on your site when and if your project is finnished? And when are you estimating making a first
test-run?
I wish you the best of luck!
[Edited on 13-4-2004 by TheBear]
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axehandle
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| Quote: |
Axehandle I have to say that I'm very impressed by this project. Since I live in the same coutry as you I know of the troubles surrounding
aquireing H2SO4. I just got to say: Keep up the good work!
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Thank you, and I will. Nothing short of death will stop me now!
(Jag SKA ha min jävla svavelsyra, hur lång tid det än tar!!!)
| Quote: |
For once I think I'm seeing a project that will be finnished since you seem to have the right attitude: insanely stubborn. Now a couple of
questions: Will you publish a complete tutorial on your site when and if your project is finnished? And when are you estimating making a first
test-run?
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Yes, I'm stubborn. Very stubborn.
And yes, I will publish a complete tutorial complete with drawings, component manufacturing processes, pictures, efficiency calculations, major causes
of trouble, caveats, etcetera.
I can't give a deadline for the test run. If all goes well, I'd guess within a month. If there are more major obstacles, perhaps 2 months.
If I has unlimited monetary resources I'd say one week, but I'm keeping as low a budget as possible here:
For example, the exhaust heater could be heated by a cooking hotplate, but I prefer to save that expense and make my own heating coil. Another example
is the thermostatic control. It could be put together easily if I bought a Pt probe. I'm going to use a molten salt thermostat instead.
One possible dead stop is if the catalyst for some reason refuses to work. Then I'll have to sacrifice a small length of my Pt wire, dissolve it
in HCl using AC electrolysis and precipitate it onto silica.
As you can see, there are many variables; it's nearly impossible to foresee the time needed.
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I wish you the best of luck!
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Thanks. I'm now very confident I will succeed, though.
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Tacho
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Axehandle,
I’ve been thinking about an easier way than clay turd to make the “heating channel”. I could not think of anything practical.
I do have some thoughts about the clay turd though:
1-if you decide to add NaCl, remember that it’s hygroscopic, so you have to dry the turd right before casting. I can’t imagine salt making a good
mixture with wet clay, but if it does, I don’t usually argue with facts.
2- It might occur to you that mixing CaCO3 could be a good idea since, if you wash it with vinegar or lemon juice solutions, it will bubble itself
away. BUT CaCO3 releases carbon dioxide at 500ºC-600ºC, and you don’t want things bubbling through molten aluminum.
3- I don’t think NaHCO3 (baking soda, sodium bicarbonate) releases CO2 upon heating, BUT I AM NOT SURE. Anyway, the mixing with wet clay might pose
a problem as with NaCl. Otherwise, it would also bubble itself away upon washing with household acids. Same goes for sodium carbonate (swimming pool
supply).
As you see, I don’t have a foolproof solution to remove the clay turd, but I hope these ideas are, at least, inspiring, in a brainstorm way.
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axehandle
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Thanks for the ideas Tacho. I actually mixed some clay yesterday (with KCl), made some turds and put them in my dessicator. Once they're dried,
I'll heat them to 800C (the estimated temp of my molten Al) and then try to dissolve them with water. Hopefully it will work.
I've been thinking about "casting" a string of some sort of high MP molten salt, but I find this impractical.
Now I'll go and _finally_ get my Pt wire! And they have titanium in stock too!!!
Edit: Now I think I have a solution: I'm going to machine the "gas channel" in the bottom heater half. Then I'm going to pour
molten NaCl into the channel, and then sand off any NaCl outside of the channel. Then I'm going to cover the whole thing with a layer of molten
Al. After that, boiling the heater in water will take care of the NaCl.
[Edited on 2004-4-14 by axehandle]
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vulture
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| Quote: |
I don’t think NaHCO3 (baking soda, sodium bicarbonate) releases CO2 upon heating, BUT I AM NOT SURE
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2NaHCO3 --> Na2CO3 + CO2 + H2O
Na2CO3 ---> Na2O + CO2
Not much heat is needed, at 300C the conversion is complete IIRC.
One shouldn't accept or resort to the mutilation of science to appease the mentally impaired.
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axehandle
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Thanks,
vulture. I already knew this since I actually <i>can</i> cook, but the warning is good. Splattering molten Al at 800C is not something you
want all over you. Anything textile it touches takes fire, and it's painful as hell (I once got a drop on my finger).
Now to continue on my plans for machining the heater. It will be very very boring.
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Tacho
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Baking soda? Cook? CO2? Cake?
OOOuch!
How could I be so stupid!
Really sorry about that one.
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axehandle
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No probs Tacho,
we all make mistakes. Now, imagine how much fun I will have machining a 5x5 mm track along the black lines in this Al block using only a drill press
and a hand file.....:
(That track is <b>1650mm</b> long! )
Edit: On second thought, I'll wait until tomorrow and buy the proper tool: An inverted cone rotating file.
[Edited on 2004-4-14 by axehandle]
[Edited on 2004-4-14 by axehandle]
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axehandle
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Lots of holes.
The path is marked, now the only thing I need is a rotating file:
Btw: You're all right in guessing that drilling all those holes was no fun at all. Ooooh, my fingers ache.....
Edit: Homepage updated (finally...).
<b>Edit2: No, I'm NOT happy with the
shape of this track. </b> I'll RE-CAST it, in the same stainless oven
form with the track
laid in the bottom using a bent 6x6 square
mild steel wire. Why the fuck didn't I come up with that idea earlier??? I'm a 1st class idiot.
[Edited on 2004-4-15 by axehandle]
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Saerynide
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Ouch. I would be crying if I had to trash all the hard work spent on that
[Edited on 16-4-2004 by Saerynide]
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axehandle
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It would be impossible to get that track straight. The air canal would brake the air much in the same way that a gun silencer brakes the propellant
gasses, making it hard on the pump. In hindsight, what was I thinking????
<b>Now, a serious question:</b>
Does anyone know of a common chemical, that chemical NOT being sulfuric acid, that corrodes copper but does not attack aluminum? I'm thinking of
embedding a copper pipe spiral inside an aluminum block, then pump some copper-destroying liquid through the system until only Al remains.
[Edited on 2004-4-18 by axehandle]
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BromicAcid
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Ammonia solutions attack copper, to what extent I cannot recall.
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axehandle
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Ammonia is a good one. While searching (in vain) for something that would destroy Copper but not Aluminum, I put two equal-sized pieces of Al and Cu
in 25% NH3(aq) solution. Not much have happened (yet). I did the same with acetic acid (no results yet either).
It doesn't matter if it takes 1-2 weeks to destroy the copper but leave Al, as long as is works. (My 1st search involved galvanic cell-like
destruction, but since Al is less noble than Cu..... you all get it.)
What peeves me though, is that this has become an obstacle I did not foresee. If I only could find a way to "dissolve" the copper pipe,
leaving the Al block intact, I could assemble and try my V2O5 catalysed H2SO4 machine within DAYS, not weeks.
I have the machine in my head now. The only major obstacle remaining is the pre-entering-catalyst gas heater.
Edit1: I'm so close I can almost smell the blood.
[Edited on 2004-4-19 by axehandle]
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BromicAcid
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Also, isn't aluminum passified by concentrated nitric acid. However I do not think that you have nitric laying around anyways.
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axehandle
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Not having nitric (which I KNOW doesn't attack Al but Cu, is the main reason I'm building this plant) *grumble*
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BrAiNFeVeR
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Try a solution of NH4NO3, this shouldn't be hard so to get ...
It'll may a while, but it should do the trick.
Good luck on the project, I'm a big fan
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