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Topic: Concentrating sulfur (removing clay from gardening sulfur)  (Read 4204 times)

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Offline mortsotruk

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Concentrating sulfur (removing clay from gardening sulfur)
« on: April 17, 2010, 06:43:15 AM »
I apologize if this is in the wrong section... this section seemed like the most appropriate choice.

I make model rockets as a hobby and recently came across a decent quantity of gardening sulfur. The only problem is that it is impure, consisting of only 90% sulfur and the remaining 10% of clay. Although the rocket powder that I make using this isn't bad, I'd still like to know if there is any reasonable way to remove the clay from the gardening sulfur.

I really appreciate any *delete me* Thank you.

Offline mortsotruk

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Re: Concentrating sulfur (removing clay from gardening sulfur)
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2010, 02:05:40 AM »
Well I THINK I solved my problem (bear in mind I am certainly not a chemist).

I read online that sulfur is practically insoluble in water, and although I'm not sure if clay is technically soluble in water, I thought I might try a make shift cold water extraction attempt. It worked!

I put 3-4 spoon fulls of the gardening sulfur (90% sulfur, 10% clay) in a plastic jar and than filled the rest with about 1.5 cups of warm water. I closed the lid and then shook it until the solution appeared to have the gardening sulfur completely suspended. I then put the jar in the refrigerator for about 2 hours and sure enough, the sulfur had fallen to the bottom of the jar to form a nice think layer while the remaining clay was still suspended (or dissolved, I'm not quite sure). I then opened the jar and slowly poured the liquid out, leaving the sulfur paste at the bottom (it pretty much just stuck to the bottom even when pouring). I then spooned it out, placed the paste on some newspaper, and let it dry out in the sun for a few hours. I used it in some simple rocket fuel and I can see a slight increase in thrust.

Anyway I thought I'd post that this might be a good way to concentrate the sulfur from gardening sulfur. Again, I am no chemist and this might be a dumb way to do this.

Offline vmelkon

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Re: Concentrating sulfur (removing clay from gardening sulfur)
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2010, 02:10:07 PM »
I would put the stuff in a closed glass container (a distillator) and heat the stuff. I actually made a video not long ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3jWbCChHzw

enjoy!

Offline mortsotruk

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Re: Concentrating sulfur (removing clay from gardening sulfur)
« Reply #3 on: May 05, 2010, 07:45:56 AM »
Thank you vmelkon! I think I get the jest of what you're doing but can you elaborate? I don't have sound right now so if you explained more in the video I apologize. Thanks again.

Offline billnotgatez

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Re: Concentrating sulfur (removing clay from gardening sulfur)
« Reply #4 on: May 05, 2010, 08:10:44 AM »
Quote
closed glass container (a distillator) and heat the stuff

Heating something in a closed container sounds dangerous.

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