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Lynn Fissell society@herculeshistory.org
Fwd: Acid Vats
January 10, 2018 at 8:38 PM
Jay Tucker tucker1559@comcast.net, Stephen Lawton srlawton@icloud.com, Dean Brightman deantbright@hotmail.com,
Susan Keeffe keeffe.susan@gmail.com

Jay, Steve, Dean, and Susan,
Here is the message that I received about acid vats and referred to at tonight's HHS meeting.
Lynn
---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Lynn Fissell &lt;society@herculeshistory.org&gt;
Date: Wed, Jan 3, 2018 at 8:36 AM
Subject: Re: Acid Vats
To: Bill Haller &lt;Billhaller@charter.net&gt;
Thank you, Mr. Haller, for your very informative explanation and graphic images. I will share this with the members of the Hercules
Historical Society. If we have questions, I will send them to you.
Lynn Fissell
Secretary
Hercules Historical Society
On Fri, Dec 29, 2017 at 11:43 AM, Bill Haller &lt;Billhaller@charter.net&gt; wrote:

Attn: Randy Grandin
Hello Randy,
Bill Haller here,
Randy, I‘m a chemist, historian and author here in Michigan’s former copper mining district.
Between here and nearby iron mining areas, I’ve identified 18 NG and dynamite producing Company’s

�Fireclay nitroglycerin reaction vessel
Circa 1890 ‘s – Houghton County, Michigan

�Circa 1890 ‘s – Houghton County, Michigan
This vessel meets the criteria as described in Mowbray’s book entitled TRI-NITROGLYCERIN.
As shown in Mowbray’s sketch the large siphon bottles on the shelves above and
behind each reactor crock would contain 17 pounds of mixed acid (2:1 ratio of
Sulphuric : Nitric). A small glass jar (above) held 2 pounds of 98% glycerin. An
exhaust tube not shown in Mowbray’s sketch was manifolded from each reactor to
withdraw nitrous oxide and dioxide fumes.
One of the small ports was fitted with a long-stem thermometer, the other with the
glass siphon feed tubes. Reactants were manually monitored to flow at a rate
consistent with the cooling water troughs ability to maintain less than 5◦F. A ¼
inch glass tube supplied air (bubbler) from a 2¼ inch iron pipe. (later design
iterations used a spinning disc for agitation)
The entire reactor gallery was immersed in a wooden tub of flowing water and
allowed to react for 1½ to 2 hours before being plunged via a bottom vessel valve
(underwater) into a series of five tanks, two containing “soda water”[1] and three of
rinse water; all part of Mowbray’s meticulous neutralization technique.
several hundred-gallon vat of cold water below deck in the basement. Downstairs
the mixture of nitroglycerine and any residual waste acid were neutralized with
sodium bicarbonate and allowed to separate; the nitroglycerin again sinking to the
bottom.
[1] Soda water was for neutralization of residual acids. It’s undetermined whether it was sodium carbonate or bi-carbonate solution.

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