Chemistry Final

The purpose of this report is to detail a new and efficient way to reuse the smelly slop of waste created by paper mills.

My answer to this problem is to take the waste, and make fire starters out of them. I made several prototypes. To do this, I first dried the waste out, using heat lamps. I then mixed the dried waste with a small amount of cotton, and then pressed it into a mold. At this point, I melted wax then poured it into the mold, filling it to the brim. I let this set out and harden, pushed the finished product out of the mold, and had my fire starter. I made multiple versions of the fire starter, one with a wick to help light it, and one without. The following are a few pictures taken:

An early prototype of the fire starter. This one does not contain cotton. 

This is the mold used for the firestarters

Melting the wax using a Bunsen Burner

The tub of dried waste

Here are two videos of the fire starters in action. The first video that of a fire starter with a wick. The second one is one of a fire starter without a wick, lit with a match.

 The chemical formulas are as follows:

PaperMill Waste (cellulose) - Same as Cotton
Wax - C25H52
Cotton - C6H10O5
Final Product (Mixture) -  C6H10O5 + C25H52

To test, I created two different firestarters, one with a wick and one without. I tested both to see if they burnt well. Here are video recordings of both testings:

As you can see, the product makes and excellent firestarter. It would be easy to build a fire using them.
I have created an MSDS for the final product:

SECTION 1 — CHEMICAL PRODUCT

Cellulose and Wax Firestarter

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SECTION 2— COMPOSITION, INFORMATION ON INGREDIENTS

Wax + Cellulose (Cotton) + Cellulose (Paper Mill Waste)

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SECTION 3 — HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION

Green Waxy Solid. Slight odor.                                                Health: 0

Not considered hazardous, however flammable.                    Flammability: 2

Emits smoke while burning, not considered dangerous.         Reactivity: 0                  

                                                                                                                    Exposure: 0

                                                                                                                                   Storage: 0

                                                                                                                                   0= low hazard  3= High hazard

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SECTION 4 — FIRST AID MEASURES

Call a physician and seek further help after first aid for serious injuries.

Burns: Remove hand from flame and treat burn immediately

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.SECTION 5 — FIRE FIGHTING MEASURES

Fire Fighting Instructions:

Use triclass, dry chemical fire extinguisher. Firefighters should wear PPE and SCBA with full facepiece operated in positive pressure mode.

SECTION 6 — ACCIDENTAL RELEASE MEASURES

Sweep up, dispose of within a plastic bag. Not considered dangerous.

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SECTION 7 — HANDLING AND STORAGE

Suggested Chemical Storage Pattern: Organic #3. Store with hydrocarbons, esters, aldehydes and oils

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SECTION 8 — EXPOSURE CONTROLS, PERSONAL PROTECTION

Avoid contact with eyes. Wear chemical splash goggles. Use ventilation to keep air borne fume concentrations below exposure limits if heating the firestarter. Always wear a NIOSH-approved respirator with proper cartridges or a positive pressure, air-supplied respirator when handling this material in emergency situations (fire)

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SECTION 9 — PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

Green, waxy solid with slight odor.                                Melting Point: 50 - 57 Degrees C

Solubility: Insoluble in water.

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SECTION 10 — STABILITY AND REACTIVITY

Avoid high heat and conditions which cause the firestarter to catch on fire.

Shelf life: Indefinite, if stored properly.

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SECTION 11 — TOXICOLOGICAL INFORMATION

Acute effects: N.A.                                    ORL-RAT LD50: >5000 mg/kg

Chronic effects: N.A.                                 IHL-RAT LC50: N.A.

Target organs: N.A.                                   SKN-RBT LD50: >5000 mg/kg

N.A. = Not available, not all health aspects of this substance have been fully investigated

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SECTION 12 — ECOLOGICAL INFORMATION

No Data

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SECTION 13 — DISPOSAL CONSIDERATIONS

Please review all federal, state and local regulations that may apply, before proceeding.

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I based this MSDS off of the Flinn MSDS's, and using some of the information on each of the chemicals in my product, created this MSDS.


When these burn, the chemical reaction of combustion occurs. Since this is a mixture of two different chemicals, there are two separate equations.
The unbalanced equation for the complete combustion of cellulose is:
C6H10O5 + O2 -----> CO2 + H20

The balanced equation is:
C6H10O5 + 6O2 -----> 6CO2 + 5H2O

The unbalanced equation for the incomplete combustion of cellulose is:
C6H10O5 + O2 -----> CO2 + H2O + C + CO
It is impossible to balance this equation, because the incomplete combustion gives off random proportions of Carbon and Carbon Monoxide.

The unbalanced equation for the complete combustion of candle wax is:
C25H52 + O2 -----> CO2 + H2O

The balanced equation is:
C25H52 + 38O2 -----> 25CO2 + 26H2O

The unbalanced equation for the incomplete combustion of candle wax is:
C25H52 + O2 -----> CO2 + H2O + C + CO
Once again,  it is impossible to balance this equation.

In conclusion, creating fire starters would be an effective way to reuse the waste given off by paper mills. They are very effective and could be very successful if sold, with a very low cost of materials.