Extreme wood bending with ammonia
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
“For the science geeks in the audience.”
Isn’t that nearly everyone who reads the blog?
Very cool, and he does a good job explaining the process. I watched the video on manufacturing anhydrous ammonia, and he appears to pay a decent amount of attention to safety. He also has what must be the coolest garage in the neighborhood.
I wouldn’t recommend reusing the aluminum tank. 150 PSI may not seem like much but if it bursts it could put your eye out.
Slice both tanks in half and put them in the recycling bin.
The meth labs use the blue rhino tanks for anhydrous ammonia. But they have to get new ones all the time because it corrodes the brass fittings and a leak can kill them. We just had a blue rhino distributor alert the authorities to three tanks that showed signs of tampering to hold ammonia. (bubbled paint and corroded brass). Turned out they were just old tanks. Hope you never get one that has held ammonia and then been refilled with propane. Nasty surprise during barbecue season.
Having grown up on a farm in Kansas we fertilized with anhydrous ammonia. If you ever get a chance try soaking a dollar bill in anhydrous ammonia. The anhydrous ammonia turns the dollar bill into a thick piece of leathery like material! It becomes about 2/3 the size. We called them “Farmer’s Dollars”.
Thanks for clearing up the mystery. I’m guessing the transformation is a product of bills being derived from wood products. Do the bills become thicker, or remain the same thickness?