Long story short:
My students are building replica steamboat as a parade float. We'd like to have black smoke coming out of the smoke stacks on the thing.
Now, I know I could have a steel bucket with an open fire in it underneath the smoke stack and throw chunks of tire on it to make some serious black smoke, but I'd like to be a little more environment-friendly.

Any ideas????

 

gotta be black?

dry ice and water would make white

 

Do you know anyone with a pyrotechnic license?
There are formulas for this sort of thing.

How long does it have to burn?
You don't want it too dense so as to screen the view.

 

First thing to my mind are smoke bombs, the kind you can buy around July 4th. Dunno if
there are any variants that make black smoke, though.

 

> I'd like to be a little more environment-friendly.

Green pine cut into small strips laid on a grill over a good fire would probably do it .

 

Yup, burning wood would do it, although wood burning is also quite non environmentally friendly as well.

Use Motor oil burns quite black, and would probably make the most "realistic" smoke, you have to pre heat it though before it will burn. A shallow metal pan that you can easily heat - and add oil too would work best.

 

Doubt its much more environmentally friendly than burning tires, but you could just burn acyetalean, that will throw some black smoke.

 

I guess the color of the smoke isn't critical. A voluminous quantity of white "smoke" would suffice. I'll look into the dry ice thing and test it.
Burning wood is a carbon-neutral activity. I am not sure enough of the source of CO2 for dry ice to know about it's impact.
Now, of course I know that releasing CO2 from dry ice has a less than negligible impact on the environment. It is certainly more desireable than burning tires, even though the quantity we would burn is negligible as well. I just don't want to set the example that it is appropriate to burn tires. You know: kids are so impressionable.

 

The only problem with dry ice smoke is it does not rise, it will fall. Plus remember, it is just CO2 in frozen state (thats why the smoke falls) so you have to be careful if using in a confined space. If color doesnt really matter, then why not look at either renting or buying a theatrical smoke machine and using that. I remember back to my days in high school on stage crew when we used to use them for plays. One time we were screwing around and it didnt take long for us to fill the entire, auditorium full of smoke.

 

Second that idea, Chaos. I've got a unit I use on Halloween - only hurdle would be that its electric. Maybe a battery + inverter would work. Perhaps not as much smoke as you'd like, but not too bad. The smell isn't too objectionable either.

 

Did some checking online. Spenser's has them pretty reasonably priced ($40 +$20 for the liquid). Never dreamed they could be had so cheaply. God bless the internet.
Electric is no problem, we run a generator for lights and other gizmo's we might have in a given year.
I had no idea one could be had so reasonably. If we buy one we can rent it to the student senate from time to time for school dances or assemblies.
Thank for the ideas, folks!

 

I think I got mine at Wallyworld or a party store (the kids bought it). They are stocked around Halloween.

 

hmmm....Ya, i dont think open flame on a float with kids/students on it would be safe. If it has to be black smoke, then what about a small air compressor, some pvc tube shoots, and lots of black chalk ground into powder. You could dump premeasured amounts of black chalk powder down the pvc tubes, then whenever you want to, hit a solenoid switch that gives a momentary blast of compressor air to each tube. That in theory, should puff out a couple plums of artificial black smoke. And it would be environmentally friendly, non toxic, non flammable, and no heated element danger. Good luck with whatever path you chose. Please post some pics when your project is done. I'd love to see it.

 

I was planning to update anyway next week after our local fair parade.
The "replica" of Robert Fulton's steamship, "Clermont" is coming along nicely.
We've got 6 foot paddle wheels on each side of the hay wagon that serves as our parade float frame. They turn about 60 rpm under a 60:1 gear reduction hitched to an electric motor. They turn a little faster than I'd like, but I dont have a 1750 motor laying around.
We bought a smoke machine like what they use in clubs for dances and whatnot and were tinkering with the smoke stacks today. Looks pretty good with the smoke blowing into a 4" black plastic corrugated drainpipe "T" which splits the flow to either side of the wagon. The smoke is then directed upwards into the bottoms of 2 pcs of 12" black plastic culvert pipe which serve as the smoke stacks. Makes some pretty realistic smoke.
Parade is next Wednesday, and we have some work to do yet. The kids have been working a couple hours a night for 2 nights a week since July.
It is coming together pretty well, so we'll see how it turns out.
I'll post a couple of pictures of it in action when it is going through the parade.