Charcoal ball

This gains its name from its appearance as a charcoal ball. This is manufactured by coating a black powder type composition many times on an ordinary and rather small shell. During the coating process pieces of hemp are wound around the sphere for reinforcement. This is quite labour intensive, but the effect is very pretty(Fig.8). The fuse of this shell is apt to misfire due to the absorption of moisture during coating, and some device is necessary to avoid this. 

Typically, dry potassium nitrate is pulverized in a ball mill. Sulfur is milled into cellular charcoal to form a uniform mix in a separate ball mill. The nitrate and the sulfur—charcoal mix are screened and then loosely mixed by hand or in a tumbling machine. Magnetic separators may be used to ensure the absence of ferrous metals. The preliminary mix is transferred to an edge-mimer wheel mill with large, heavy cast iron wheels. A clearance between the pan and the wheels is required for safety purposes. The size of this gap also contributes to the density of the black powder granules obtained. Water is added to minimize dusting and improve incorporation of the nitrate into the charcoal. The milling operation requires ca 3 to 6 h. 

Pulverin. French for meal powder. A special, finely pulverized BlkPdr consisting of K nitrate 75, S 12.5 and charcoal 12.5%, prepd by rolling the ingredients with Pb or lignum vitae balls in a hardwood barrel. It has been used in pyrotechnic applications... 

The raw materials potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulphur are first brought to a fine condition. Potassium nitrate must be ground by itself, but the charcoal and sulphur may be ground together or separately according to individual requirements. This grinding is frequently carried out in steel ball mills. The products are then sieved to remove any oversize or extraneous matter. 

Solid-state catalytic hydrogenations in the absence of any solvent can be easily and quantitatively performed in ball-mills that allow for evaporation and filling with gases. For example, the Diels-Alder adduct of maleic anhydride and cyclopentadiene 2 hydrogenates readily upon milling with palladium on charcoal in an atmosphere of hydrogen in 200-g batches to give 99, which is easily sublimed off from the catalyst [22] (Scheme 10). 

Accdg to Nambo (Ref 66, p 38), the compn of powder for thorny fire balls , as described by Tsung Yao of Sung, was saltpeter 50.0, sulfur 25.0, charcoal 6.25 other ingredients 18.75%, while the compn of powder for poisonous fire balls was saltpeter 38.5, sulfur 19.25, charcoal 6.4 other ingredients 35.85%... 

Charcoal is usually milled in either ball mills or disintegrators. It may be given a preliminary treatment in edge runners. 

Binary mixtures of charcoal with sulphur or with saltpetre, being insensitive to friction and impact, are prepared in iron ball mills composed of drums (1.2 m dia. and 1.5 m in length) with bronze balls. The drums (Fig. 91) are fitted inside with... 

CA 60, 10472(1964) [Trilaminar expl was prepd by coating granular AN at 115° with 2-5% Nitron aphtha lene (mp 90°). Then the temp was reduced to 80°, and the grains coated with 2—20% TNT (mp 74°). Finally the mass was placed in a rotary drum with wood balls (maintained at 50°) and, while agitating, the grains were coated with 2—10% mixture of Al, activated charcoal (or powd coal) ]... 

Black Ash.—Ball Soda.—The materials nsed in the production of this ash are perfectly dry sulphate of soda, charcoal, or small coal—slack—and carbonate of lime, either in the form, of common limestone or as chalk. These substances require to be brought into a state of fusion together, and this operation is the most important part of the whole soda process. 

Figure G1.8.1 Diagram of the sniff port constructed from a laboratory filter (based on Acree et al., 1976 see Acree, 1997) showing the filter pump (with the check ball removed) attached to a humidifier, shut-off valve, and charcoal filter. The vacuum side of the pump is positioned over a flame ionization detector (FID) with the hydrogen gas turned off. The make-up gas helps lift the narrow (<0.2-mm-o.d.) gas chromatography (GC) effluent stream into the much larger olfactometry air stream without loss of resolution, and the 300 ml/min air combustion gas produced by the FID also prevents loss of resolution.

Plumbic powder No. 1 is made from lead nitrate 12 parts, potassium nitrate 2 parts, and black alder charcoal 3 parts.42 The materials are powdered and mixed, and then rolled in a wooden ball-mill with balls of hard lead (Pb 5, Sb 1) or brass or bronze. 

The phenomenon of Senko-hanabi occurs after a black powder-type composition burns out at the cinder stage it coheres into a fire ball and emits many pine needle-like sparks from its surface as it reacts with oxygen in the air. In this case the remaining charcoal and potassium... 

Paulownia charcoal also gives big sparks, especially big willow-like sparks at the end. Pine charcoal gives rather -small sparks, but produces them quite frequently. The sparks from hemp coal are not as good as those from pine charcoal. Household charcoal causes a violent reaction at first and blows away the fire ball substance, and even ff the fire ball is formed,... 

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