Reid Harvey on fri 26 may 00
Greetings, unbelievable clay people. Nothing is more awe inspiring than
you, a group of clay people who share insights.
I am about to do something I've never done before, and am looking for
unforseen problems. I will be firing earthenware grog material and
earthenware water purifiers in an electric kiln, to 500C, then throwing
sawdust into the kiln. The purifier materials will have been saturated
with silver nitrate. The reduction will pull the nitrate out, leaving
the silver metal. This kills pathogens as they pass the purifier.
My chief concern is that it is not my kiln. I have already told the
owner the worst that can happen is to turn the interior and furniture
black, something that will burn off in the next firing. He is concerned
about the elements, though I foresee no problem. I suppose I could turn
the kiln off just before tossing in the sawdust.
Usual thanks,
Reid Harvey
Abidjan, la Cote d'Ivoire
Jocelyn McAuley on sat 27 may 00
On Fri, 26 May 2000, Reid Harvey wrote:
Can I shout and still come across as polite?
PLEASE DON'T THROW SAW DUST INTO A HOT KILN!
This is the quickest way to create a home made bomb. Saw dust will ignite
in the air as you are throwing it in the kiln, and catch fire in your face
and all around you. Every little particle that is in the air will catch
on fire. Even those you can not see.
Your chief concern in this attempt should be whether you will catch on
fire or not.
Forgive me if I am barking up the wrong tree, but this really seems like
an unbelievably bad procedure.
> Greetings, unbelievable clay people. Nothing is more awe inspiring than
> you, a group of clay people who share insights.
>
> I am about to do something I've never done before, and am looking for
> unforseen problems. I will be firing earthenware grog material and
> earthenware water purifiers in an electric kiln, to 500C, then throwing
> sawdust into the kiln. The purifier materials will have been saturated
> with silver nitrate. The reduction will pull the nitrate out, leaving
> the silver metal. This kills pathogens as they pass the purifier.
>
> My chief concern is that it is not my kiln. I have already told the
> owner the worst that can happen is to turn the interior and furniture
> black, something that will burn off in the next firing. He is concerned
> about the elements, though I foresee no problem. I suppose I could turn
> the kiln off just before tossing in the sawdust.
>
> Usual thanks,
> Reid Harvey
> Abidjan, la Cote d'Ivoire
>
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--
Jocelyn McAuley ><<'> jocie@worlddomination.net
ferenc jakab on wed 31 may 00
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jocelyn McAuley"
To:
Sent: Sunday, 28 May 2000 6:49 am
Subject: Re: throwing sawdust into an electric kiln
> On Fri, 26 May 2000, Reid Harvey wrote:
>
> Can I shout and still come across as polite?
> PLEASE DON'T THROW SAW DUST INTO A HOT KILN!
>
> This is the quickest way to create a home made bomb. Saw dust will ignite
> in the air as you are throwing it in the kiln, and catch fire in your face
> and all around you. Every little particle that is in the air will catch
> on fire. Even those you can not see.
This is similar to a flour mill or coal mine explosion where the dust
ignites and the ignition spreads almost instantaneously amongst the minute
dust particles. In effect it is the same as a vapour or gas explosion.
Some year ago I saw a miniature form of this when in a cabinet making
workshop. The plastic pipes which were carrying the waste saw dust to the
hopper were often surrounded by dancing saw dust on the ground drawn by the
strong static charge built up by the particles inside the pipe as they were
drawn through by the vacuum system. On this day the floor in the workshop
was particularly dusty and the weather was very dry. The result was that the
static discharge from the pipes set off a mini explosion in the dust around
the pipes. The resultant fire caused many thousands of dollars damage. The
owners subsequently had a specialist in to earth the ventilation system.
Feri.
Who's been off, air eking out the last few dollars in the Internet account
and hoping to catch up with friends now that I've re-subscribed.
It's 4 deg C and 5:15 p.m..
Ray Aldridge on wed 31 may 00
At 01:49 PM 5/27/00 -0700, you wrote:
>On Fri, 26 May 2000, Reid Harvey wrote:
>
>Can I shout and still come across as polite?
>PLEASE DON'T THROW SAW DUST INTO A HOT KILN!
>
>This is the quickest way to create a home made bomb. Saw dust will ignite
>in the air as you are throwing it in the kiln, and catch fire in your face
>and all around you. Every little particle that is in the air will catch
>on fire. Even those you can not see.
>
>Your chief concern in this attempt should be whether you will catch on
>fire or not.
>
>
>Forgive me if I am barking up the wrong tree, but this really seems like
>an unbelievably bad procedure.
>
I'm sure there are circumstances when it would be a bad idea to introduce
sawdust to a hot kiln, but one of our list members, Lowell Baker of Alabama
has been doing it for many years. At this spring's Alabama Clay
Conference, he demonstrated his sawdust injection burner to finish off a
wood firing, and it was pretty impressive. In this case, he's not only
pumping sawdust into a kiln, he's also pumping forced air into it.
So it can be done safely.
I'd be more concerned about the effect of reduction on the kiln elements.
But if that wasn't a concern, there are probably less labor-intensive ways
to reduce an electric kiln than sawdust-- an oil drip, for example, or a
small propane burner.
Ray
Aldridge Porcelain and Stoneware
http://www.goodpots.com
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