Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Making KNO3 from ashes n earth

xtx8003 - 17-9-2015 at 02:12

Does anyone have tried to make KNO3 from ashes and soil / earth..?

nitro-genes - 17-9-2015 at 02:34

Not exactly piss-easy, but doable :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wW5KR1pDxs

[Edited on 17-9-2015 by nitro-genes]

It is how to make gunpowder from urine..

xtx8003 - 17-9-2015 at 03:47

Quote: Originally posted by nitro-genes  
Not exactly piss-easy, but doable :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wW5KR1pDxs

[Edited on 17-9-2015 by nitro-genes]

It Is how to make gunpowder from urine, but thanks a lot..

Detonationology - 17-9-2015 at 04:48

Quote: Originally posted by xtx8003  
Quote: Originally posted by nitro-genes  
Not exactly piss-easy, but doable :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wW5KR1pDxs

[Edited on 17-9-2015 by nitro-genes]

It Is how to make gunpowder from urine, but thanks a lot..


It isn't necessary for one to use urine to leach out the nitrates out of the organic material, water can be used but will yield less. The urine is a great source of nitrogen, and therefore it yields more nitrates. Raw nitrate minerals such as niter (KNO3), nitratine (NaNO3), nitrobarite (Ba(NO3)2), nitrocalcite (Ca(NO3)2*4H2O) and nitromagnesite (Mg(NO3)2*6H2O) may help you get nitrate ions necessary to make the desired KNO3. I don't know if you live in a region with bats/bat caves, but guano is probably your best bet of acquiring high quality nitrates from soil/earth.

nitro-genes - 17-9-2015 at 05:20

Interesting thing would be to have a pure culture of the bacteria producing the nitrate from nitrogen sources and have a medium and temperature that keeps them as happy as possible. I have no idea how fast these bacteria or responsible enzymes can do it, if symbiosis of multiple species nessecary, etc but a very interesting thing would be some sort of a bioreactor that can produce nitrates pretty fast from a wide variety of inexpensive common nitrogen sources. :)

[Edited on 17-9-2015 by nitro-genes]

Praxichys - 17-9-2015 at 05:26

Urine is a good source of urea. Urea hydrolyzes to ammonia in soil. The ammonia is then processed by bacteria into nitrates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrification

Soil Conditions controlling nitrification rates
• Substrate availability (presence of NH4+)
• Aeration (availability of O2)
• Well-drained soils with 60% soil moisture
• pH (near neutral)
• Temperature (best 20-30°C)

Basically all good soil contains a variety nitrate salts in small amounts. Wood ashes contain soluble basic salts of potassium and sodium (carbonate, hydroxide). Mixed with soil, this serves two functions. It essentially washes the nitrates out of the soil as sodium and potassium nitrate by reacting with other metal nitrates in the soil, leaving behind insoluble carbonates and hydroxides of magnesium, calcium, and transition metals. The KNO3/NaNO3 solution is then drained off and concentrated.

The soil can be enhanced prior to treatment with a season of "nitrification" which will dramatically improve yield. Farmers used to store piles of manure, constantly drenching them in urine, to produce nitrate-rich material for gunpowder manufacture. They would often construct dungeon-like tunnels under the stables or manure piles so that groundwater seepage would cause KNO3 to crystallize on the walls and could be scraped off for purification.

nitro-genes - 17-9-2015 at 05:40

The nitrosomas genus has the ability to cleave urea and oxidize the resulting ammonia to produce nitrite, which is their sole energy source. Surprisingly, isolating them as a single culture is difficult, but once isolated they seem to grow fine and can be kept as a stock culture. One enriched source of these bacteria may be filters used in aquaria to prevent buildup of toxic ammonia in the tank and convert it to nitrates (nitrites are still toxic). There are inooculating products of these bacteria available commercially or aquaria that may contain all the necessary bacterial strains to produce nitrates from urea or ammonia. :) --> tetra safe start for example:

http://www.tetra-fish.com/Products/aquarium-water-care-maint...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrosomonas

Suitable medium and growing conditions for nitrosomas:
http://nitrificationnetwork.org/Nerecipe.php

[Edited on 17-9-2015 by nitro-genes]