[NewCandle] Getting started with aluminum foil

[Nick Reiter]

Hi Keith,

The amount of salt you used is right in the zone - that was our concentration for starting out with.

My recollection is that with the high mass reactors (600 square feet of half-roll) with salt water, at ~23 to 25C, you would start to see slight spitting bubble streams at about 48 to 72 hours, and then it would tend to accelerate like gangbusters once the water temp reached about 35C or so.  So I suppose Arrhenius might say double the wait time, if at 10C.

Now I never was quite able to ascertain just what the variable entailed, but I've used steam distilled water as the starting solvent.  Probably worth noting in case you get to a point of "Hmm".  As well as the polypropylene vs. Mason jar variable too.

I have to confess all bets are off as to the roll-mass or turns required for the truly vigorous runaway reaction.  The standard mass we settled on lng ago was 600 square feet - in the form of three 200-ft rolls sawed in half, with cardboard tubes pulled.  So what you are examining with these screening experiments is new ground, and certainly valuable and necessary!

Best of luck!

n

> Hey Nick,
> 
> Just a quick update. I used NaCl at about 1
> tablespoon/quart of
> filtered water, and started all of the rolls 2 days ago.
> No
> noticable reaction yet. Nighttime temps get down to 10C or
> lower, and given that I had better results in the apt in
> brooklyn I suspect this to be part of the problem.
> 
> Today, I cut one 25 sqr foot roll in half, squished it
> flat, and removed the inner cardboard core with a pair
> of pliers. I'll drop both pieces into a quart jar, we'll
> see how much metal is necessary to kick the reaction
> into that positive feedback loop that ends in boiling.
> 
> K.
>