Make Sodium Hypochlorite AKA bleach

NaOCl

Sodium Hypochlorite

bleach, it will damage the dye in fabrics but more importantly it will kill a wide variety of pathogens.
This makes bleach a very important substance for modern settled life. For any settled life the abilbity to create bleach could be a life saving skill.
Surprisingly beach is quite easy to make, the process does release some hazardous gasses such as Hydrogen gas and Chlorine gas, but if done in a well vested area this should not be a problem.

The basic chemistry

Chlorine gas if exposed to an alkaline solution will produce hypochlorites.

Cl2  +H2O  ==> ClO‾ + OH‾

NaCl + H20 ==>  Cl2 + H2 + NaOCl

For this reaction, where the chlorine is formed is important as we want it to have a long path to the surface to react with the water, so the chlorine producing electrode should be close to the bottom of the electrolysis container.
The hydrogen gas we don’t care about to much, so the negative electrode is close to the surface.

The container

<pic of chamber>

create chamber from plastic bottle

The electrode.

carbon graphite from a battery, larger in diameter is better.
wash to remove chemicals and plastics that may be on the surface, heating is an aceptable way to remove plastics.

Add to bottle cap by puncture. seal with candle wax.

The salt

the salt used should be NaCl, without added iodide which is common in some manufactured salt used for consumption.

some salt has anti caking agents, these should not cause a problem.

100 grams used

The water

avoid impurities
the water should be as clean as possible, distilled or rain water is preferred
1 liter used.

Impurities such as transition metals , copper, iron, manganese… will reduce the shelf life of the NaOCL

The power source

12V -24V DC
possible sources, car battery, solar panel, 8 x 1.5V batteries in series.

Time taken

1 hour

Observations

bubbles will form from both electrodes, a smell of chlorine will be detectable.

the water will become yellowish.

Testing.

Use pool testing strips to test for chlorine levels.

Use

2 to 3+ table spoons in 5 litres of water.
after about 20 minutes add another half a tablespoon of bleach to water.

1 part bleach to 100 parts water (up to 130 parts water) by volume.

Some slight smell of chlorine should be present in the water, a little stronger than domestic tap water smell.

==========================

addition notes:

pictures and experiment needed

citing and correcting source document. site owner has no operational email address

adapted from:

http://www.pqs.org/ingl.htm

note the website link talks about charcoal , but actually means graphite.

Download a 2 page printable document  bleach making flyer

EDC: Lighter

Make fire to cook, light in the darkness, heat in the cold you just must have fire. While I have previously discussed the heated lawnmower blades as a fire lighter, for many they are not easy to use, especially when so many simple alternatives are available. Certainly the pair of iron strikers will last much longer off grid, often fire is needed fast and easy not eventually. Lets look at some commonly available cigarette lighters and their features, pros and cons.

Typical low pressure disposable plastic lighter

Disposable plastic type lighter.

Fuel : pressurized butane

Refillable: usually no, sometimes yes check for valve.

Fuel life span: depends on use

Ignition system: usually striker wheel and flint, sometimes piezoelectric

Ignition life span: striker wheel good, piezos can often fail

Material: Mostly plastic

Weight:  low

Cost: low $1-2

Main advantage: cheap readily available.

Main disadvantage: not refillable usually

Typical high pressure piezoelectric butane lighter. Some have an LED light as a optional feature.

High pressure butane type lighter

Fuel: butane at high pressure

Refillable: Sometimes

Fuel life span: Fuel often will leak, 2 weeks at most.

Ignition system: piezoelectric.

Ignition life span: often fails before fuel is gone.

Material: plastic.

Weight: low.

Cost: medium, often gimmick factor in price.

Main advantage: very hot flame, good in windy conditions.

Main disadvantage: very unreliable.

Typical Zippo type lighter. Iconic.

Zippo type lighter

Fuel:  volatile liquid hydrocarbons

Refillable: yes

Fuel life span: 2-3 weeks depending on fuel, temperature, and use.

Ignition system: striker wheel and flint

Ignition life span: long 3- 6 months between replacing flints

Material: metal, brass  is common

Weight: heavy

Cost: high $30- 50 depending on brand and quality

Main advantages: very robust, big flame, very simple design.

Main disadvantages: heavy, difficult to replace flints, fuel will evaporate quickly.

Typical Imco type lighter. One of the better options.

Imco Triplex type lighter

Fuel:  volatile liquid hydrocarbons

Refillable: yes

Fuel life span: long

Ignition system: striker wheel and flint

Ignition life span: medium, uses flints fast.

Material: metal

Weight: medium, not much heavier than plastic lighters

Cost: medium, $20

Main advantage:  small and easy to maintain, quite reliable creates large spark, long fuel life

Main disadvantage: uses flints fast, seem complex at first, lots of sliding parts and a spring.

Conclusions:

If you already have a Zippo type or Imco type lighter, keep it. If you can justify $20 or more for a lighter, get one of those two, if not, two or three low pressure lighters. Avoid the high pressure lighters, their special feature is seldom needed and they fail often. If you are deciding on a liquid hydrocarbon fueled lighter remember to have fuel and periodically check the fuel levels.

Preppers online resource

Some great info here. I’m especially interested in the wood gassifier for converting small pieces of wood into a fuel substitute (CO + H2) for internal combustion engines. Quite a large resource. Along with the wood gassifier I’d like to highlight some of the other topics in later posts.

http://www.preppers.info/Free_Downloads.html

Energy

I realized I hadn’t actually defined what energy was. This is important if you are facing an energy crisis. Energy is the ability to do work.

Energy is conserved, meaning that:

Energy cannot be created or destroyed , only transformed from one form to another.

Energy is either potential (stored) or kinetic (in motion).

Most of the energy the earth receives is sunlight, which is converted by plants to chemically sorted energy such as sugars.

Animals get their energy from either eating plant or other animals.

Fossil fuels (oil, coal,and gas)  are remnants of plants that died a very long time ago and were modified by bacteria in the absence of oxygen.

Some of the energy that is extractable on earth is geothermal driven by the movement of molten and semi molten rock deep under the surface of the earth.

Energy is tidal motion is derived from the gravitational pull exerted by the moon.

Energy is wind and temperature differences is is generated by the sun.

In physics , engineering and other sciences energy is measured in Joules [ kg m² / s² ].

Power is the energy consumed or released in a given unit of  time.  Power is not conserved

Bike power: version 2 – field test

Bike power complete. Bike, bike stand, 3 phase rectifier, capacitor, 6 Amp solar battery charge controller, 12V bulb.

The bike ( on a bike stand ) were attached to the 3 phase rectifier and the 1 Farad capacitor to produce 12V DC.

The wheel is a  200 W 36V wheel so the bike could only be operated at a low ( comfortable) speed to prevent too much voltage and too much current.

A 12V 50W dichroic light bulb was added to show it was really working.

capacitor at 13.6 Volts and 50Watt 12 Volt dichroic light working.

PV charge controller added using the bike as the power input instead of the solar panel and battery charger was used.

Probably best for charging a small device unless you want to pedal the bike for a long time.

Future additions:

36 to 12 volt step down for a higher current lower voltage system.

replace the back tire with a smooth tread tire.

Paint can rocketstove: field test

Rocket stove made from a paint can and 3 smaller 300 gram food cans. Small rocks used to create gap between pot and stove

This rocket stove was was constructed out of a 5 Liter ( 1.32 US  gallons ) paint can and 3  x 300gram  ( 10 ounce) food cans. The grey paint was not fully removed from the can and some is still visible. I would recommend that if a paint can was used the paint is completely removed with an appropriate solvent, turpentine or water depending on the type of paint base. If a solvent is not available the can can be heated in an open fire to burn out the remaining paint.

Boil time for 1 liter of water approximately 10 minutes.

dry wood ash was used as insulation.

Some small rocks were use to create the pot stand.

The paint can handle was left on to create an easy way to move the stove.

Addition of the fuel shelf helped the stove produce better air flow an prevents over filling with wood fuel, the shelf was held securely in place with a small rock.

close up of paint can rocket stove fuel shelf. Small rock holding shelf in place, some holes in shelf for better air flow.

Soil stove

If found this looking through old documents.

A stove made from a mix of sand, soil sand an dung slowly piled up in the corner of a house. I think anthill sand is coarse sand, soil being loamy soil, and dung having fibre binder like mud daub houses.

All natural products, no metal or money required. Get primative but use your head, this likely to  work only in hotter/ drier regions. Uses less fuel and produces less smoke.

3 week construction time.

A stove for free made from soil, sand and some cattle dung with straight stem branches for moulds.

PV (solar panel) and charge controller with battery

Depending on where you are you might want electricity.

Solar power is a convenient, low maintenance way to get electricity if you have sunlight.

For this example I will consider a 80W 12 V solar panel and a charge controller capable of 6A at 12 Volts.

The panel

80 W  (maximum power)

12V

P = VxI

P/V =I

80/12 = I

6.66 A =I (maximum current)

 

The charge controller

12V

6A

P= VxI

P = 12 x 6

P =  72W

Close enough to matched, remember the panel lists it maximum power not typical power rating.

A charge controller is a fancy battery charger which can put unused solar power into stored energy into a battery.

Usually there is a load circuit for things you want to run directly off the solar panel and a battery charging circuit. For this example there is a maximum load of 72 watts from the controller load wires.

For a larger load than the controller allows disconnect the battery from the charge controller and use the charged battery.

There is often a wet type battery for flooded lead acid cells check you documentation as to whether it is connected to the positive(+) or negative (-) terminal of the flooded battery.

A typical arrangement:

PV charge controller and battery wiring diagram.

For 12 Volt setups the car cigarette plug and socket system of connectors is a good idea, simple and common. There is also a wide variety of electrical items made especially for this connector format.

 

The connectors on solar panels are waterproof, the connections on the charge controller are not, make sure they are waterproofed or kept away from water.

Electrical power: P = V x I

Power for an electrical system is relatively easy to determine.

Power in watts  [J /s ]

Voltage in Volts  [J / C ]

Current in Amps [ C / s ]

P = V x I

But what is power?

Power is energy consumed or release in a given quantity of time.

Power is different from energy as energy is conserved meaning it cant be created or destroyed.

Power can be increased or reduced by altering the amount of time the energy is exerted over.

In the normal mechanical world energy is either potential or kinetic.

Ek = 1/2 m * v²

Ep = mgh

Etot = Ep + Ek

If we consider a ball being raised 1 meter of the ground in a period of 2 seconds and then dropped to the ground reaching the ground in 0.5 seconds, the balls combination of potential and kinetic energy levels remain the same.

However the ball has gained power by expending its energy in a short period of time. this is the subtle difference between energy and power.

 

Only 1/4 of the power released was used to raise the ball.

Power is simply how quickly energy is stored or expended.

Collapse (2009) Mike Rupert, Directed by Thom Powers

 

 

Mike  Rupert explains peak oil and it’s connections to peak population and the general instability of and oil based world.

A personal, sometimes intimate interview, with some archive footage to help explain some concepts and parts of history.

Mike’s solution: grow your own food, disconnect from oil and get to know your neighbors.

http://www.filmsforaction.org/Watch/Collapse_2009/