Self produced flame gel, kinda like STERNO

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WillyPete

Self produced flame gel, kinda like STERNO

Post by WillyPete »

I went looking around one of the other sites I visit and found a great resource, a method to make your own STERNO like fuel gel. I haven't made any but by all I can figure from reading about it, it is quite workable. Take a gander, i have three entries about it.

How to Make "Sterno™"
A solid camping fuel like Sterno™ or Magic Heat™ was discovered several years ago when a group of campers forgot to pack fuel for their camp stove. Because the area prohibited use of campfires, the campers needed to use an alternative fuel source. One of the campers made a gel that they could use as a solid fuel. To make this gel, chalk was crushed and mixed with vinegar. The resulting mixture was filtered through a napkin and the liquid collected was heated using a solar reflector. Some rubbing alcohol was poured into the solution to form a gel which burned.

You can repeat this process and make their own gelled fuel at home with alcohol and calcium acetate
(C4H6CaO4). Either methanol or ethanol can be used for fuel. Calcium acetate (C4H6CaO4) can be purchased or made by slowly dissolving calcium carbonate (eggshells or chalk) in vinegar, filtering, and allowing to dry.

Here's how to do it…
Step 1: Place about 1 oz. of chalk (or egg shells) in a mortar and pestle and grind to small pieces.
Transfer chalk to pint container and add 4 oz of vinegar. Stir for 5 minutes.
What’s Happening: A reaction between chalk (calcium carbonate) and vinegar (acetic acid, dilute) to
produces carbon dioxide, water and calcium acetate

Step 2: Pour the chalk-vinegar mixture into the funnel lined with a coffee filter and collect the liquid
in a pint container.
What’s Happening: Filtration of un-reacted chalk from the mixture to leave a solution of calcium acetate
in water

Step 3: Pour 2 oz of the liquid into the dish. Gently heat the dish with a Bunsen burner until the volume
is reduced by half. Turn off burner and allow concentrated solution to cool.
What’s Happening: Removal of excess water will concentrate the calcium acetate in the solution.

Step 4: Add 1 oz. of alcohol to liquid in dish. DO NOT STIR! The gel should form rapidly. Pour off any
excess alcohol.
What’s Happening: Mixing alcohol with calcium acetate will form the gel fuel

Next entry:

I found a method that is similar to above but uses Calcium Carbonate instead of Calcium Acetate. The method used to create the gel how ever is different than above but the results are about the same. I can't say for this mixture, but the one I've found using Calcium Carbonate appears to be a stronger flame.

Items needed:
Calcium Carbonate (1000Mg minimum can be found in Tums)
Vinegar
90% rubbing alcohol or greater purity

Step one:
Crush Calcium tablets into a powder. Add powder to a glass container with a wide mouth.

Step two:
Add vinegar to the Calcium slowly, until the reaction completely stops. Set container aside for a day to let it evaporate to half the original volume. If it becomes to dry, you can add a bit of water to make a slurry and make it viable again

Step three:
Fill a small glass container with twice as much alcohol as there is Calcium. Begin stirring the alcohol and adding small amounts of Calcium slurry. Stir the mixture as you pour the slurry into the alcohol. Stop to test how viscous the gel is every couple of minutes. If you add to much the mixture will become liquid again.

Step four:
Place the gel on a stone outside and test the gel. Repeat above with different purities and antacids to achieve your desired flame.

And the last entry, it's a video:



WATCHMAN NOTE: Use the FLASH button to insert a video, not URL or IMG.


High purity alcohols may be difficult to obtain and regular rubbing alcohol is usually at about only 70% purity. You can get mostly pure alcohol from paint stores, it's known as Denatured alcohol and is pure alcohol that has an agent added to it to prevent people from actually drinking it. You will vomit horrendously if you drink denatured alcohol. Or you could just buy a bottle of Everclear, your choice, it's about 95% or slightly better purity, and you won't vomit if you drink it. Unless you drink too much.
User avatar
308gun

Re: Self produced flame gel, kinda like STERNO

Post by 308gun »

Two other types of homemade sterno ,1)are the round cans shoe/boot polish burns very well.. 2)is peanut butter (we used C-ration peanut butter in tins as candles) so put some peanut butter and or add a very little cooking oil .. you have home made sterno....even cooking oil will burn will low heat in a can ... note all smoke a lot ... use outdoors... :coffee:
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WillyPete

Re: Self produced flame gel, kinda like STERNO

Post by WillyPete »

Oh yeah, the wax in the shoe polish and the fats in the peanut butter, or any oil by itself makes them all great fuel sources. I was watching a Survivorman episode where he got a fire going using a corn chip since it still contained a fair amount of the grease it was fried in. Better load up on Frito's too. :lol:
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