Beefa wrote:
Could you use charcoal out of the fireplace for it? Ho do you know if it needs a service (Sally has one and I dunno whethere its ever been touched or not)?
It would be "activated" charcoal - basicall charcoal that has been held at temperature for a period of time (150°C for 1 hour?) This drives off all the moisture and any other volatiles .
From Wikipedia
[edit] Production
It can be produced in two different processes from a variety of carbonaceous source materials, e.g. nutshells, wood, coal. It can be produced using one of the two following processes:
Physical reactivation: The precursor is developed into activated carbons using gases. This is generally done by using one or combining the following processes:
Carbonization: Material with carbon content is pyrolysed at temperatures in the range 600-900 °C, in absence of air (usually in inert atmosphere with gases like argon)
Activation/Oxidation: Raw material or carbonised material is exposed to oxidizing atmospheres (carbon dioxide, oxygen, or steam) at temperatures above 250 °C, usually in the temperature range 600-1200 °C.
Chemical activation: Impregnation with chemicals such as acids like phosphoric acid or bases like potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide or salts like zinc chloride, followed by carbonization at temperatures in the range 450-900 °C. It is believed that the carbonization / activation step proceeds simultaneously with the chemical activation. This technique can be problematic in some cases because, for example, zinc trace residues may remain in the end product. However, chemical activation is preferred over physical activation owing to the lower temperatures and shorter time needed for activating material.
Saturated activated carbon can be regenerated by heating.
Not the last line and read in conjunction with my opening comment
_________________
David L
My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!
