NEMO-Chemistry - 7-9-2016 at 11:57
Hi
Walking around the beach looking for oyster shells some drift wood caught my eye.
Drift wood always seems bone dry even after a fairly short time in the sea. I assume the salt water draws out the moisture via Osmosis, driftwood also
burns really well.
So this got me thinking 
, Would willow soaked in saltwater for X days and then
dried, make better charcoal?
I am torn between yes because its really dry and has had most components removed via Osmosis, and No for the same reason!!!
So what are your opinions on this? Do you think Charcoal from saltwater dried willow burn better than naturally air dried willow?
I am going to try this by making black powder with both types, but i am curious as to what others think.
The other question regarding making charcoal, is it better to put a tiny hole in the lid of the can or not when making charcoal?
Edit
Anyone got a good way to quantize the difference between the two types of charcoal?
[Edited on 7-9-2016 by NEMO-Chemistry]
Fulmen - 7-9-2016 at 13:10
I would think you'd have a hard time getting rid of all the salts that have soaked in, this will produce more ash which usually isn't considered a
plus.
But wood soaked in fresh water could be a good choice. Water and oxygen promotes bacteria growth, these can help break down all the non-cellulose
materials in the wood. Soluble salts would also be flushed out.
NEMO-Chemistry - 7-9-2016 at 13:14
Would the salt soak in though? My thinking was the salt in the water draws out the non salty water via osmosis, i didnt think salt leached inwards??
Hence why driftwood dries quicker and is alot lighter than normal dried wood.
This might be utter bollox of course, but we will see.
aga - 7-9-2016 at 14:54
The soluble salts move in as the water moves out.
Mostly NaCl, but plenty of others too, including Br salts.
Driftwood generally burns slightly less well, and with a more yellow flame.
I'll Guess (and it is a guess) that the halogens in there would get displaced during pyrolysis, leaving a pretty much normal charcoal.
You could test it by pyrolysing portions of driftwood, then land-derived wood, grind them to a fine powder and determine the Iodine Number of each
sample to see if there is a difference.
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=63181
NEMO-Chemistry - 7-9-2016 at 22:39
Good idea!! I have some soaking.