How it is done, how it works, how it works. Big Encyclopedia of Oil and Gas
Matches are a relatively recent invention of mankind; they replaced the flint about two centuries ago, when weaving looms were already working, trains and steamboats were running. But only in 1844 it was announced the creation of safe matches.
Phosphorus discovery
In 1669, the alchemist Henning Brand, trying to create a philosopher's stone, received a substance that glows in the dark, later called phosphorus, by evaporating a mixture of sand and urine. The next step in the history of the invention of the match was made by the English physicist and chemist Robert Boyle (co-author of the Boyle-Mariotte law) and his assistant Gottfried Hauckweitz: they covered the paper with phosphorus and ran it over a wooden sliver coated with sulfur.
Incendiary machines
Between matches and a flint there were several inventions for producing fire, in particular, the Deberainer incendiary apparatus, created in 1823 and based on the property of detonating gas to ignite in the presence of fine sawdust of platinum.
After the French chemist Claude Bertollet invented bertollet salt (potassium chlorate), his compatriot Chansel created the so-called “French incendiary machine”: potassium chlorate together with sulfur, tar, sugar and gum arabic (acacia resin, viscous adhesive) was applied to a wooden stick, and in contact with concentrated sulfuric acid, ignition occurred, sometimes of an explosive nature.
The chemist Wagemann from Tübingen used the invention of Chansel in 1806, but added asbestos pieces to sulfuric acid to slow down the combustion process. The factory he created in Berlin was the first major incendiary device manufacturing facility. In 1813, the first match manufactory Mahliard’s and Wik’s for the production of so-called chemical matches was registered in Vienna in Vienna. Charles Darwin used similar chemical matches, biting the risk of burning an ampoule with acid.
First matches
In 1832, “dry matches” were invented in Vienna. Chemist Leonard Trevani covered the head of a wooden straw with a mixture of bertholite salt with sulfur and glue, these matches were lit by friction on a rough surface; however, sometimes the head ignited with an explosion.
The inventor of the first phosphoric matches was the young Frenchman Charles Soria. In 1831, a nineteen-year-old experimenter added white phosphorus to a mixture of bertholite salt and sulfur to weaken its explosive properties. The ignition temperature of such matches was small - 30 ° C. Soria tried to get a patent, but he did not have the money to register it, so a year later phosphoric matches were created again by the German chemist J. Kammerer.
The first phosphoric matches were brought to Russia in 1836, they were expensive - a ruble in silver for a hundred. The first domestic matchmaking factory was built in St. Petersburg in 1837, and in 1842 there were 9 match factories in St. Petersburg alone that produced 10 million matches daily. The price of matches fell sharply to 3-5 kopecks of copper per hundred pieces.
By the middle of the XIX century, the production of matches in Russia began to bear the character of handicrafts, since it was found that matches in a significant amount can be made at home. However, the low flammability of phosphorus led to fires. During transportation, matches often caught fire from friction. Fires blazed along the path of the match train: distraught horses with burning wagons brought a lot of trouble.
In 1848, there was a decree of Nicholas I to make matches only in capitals and pack them in cans. Due to the toxicity of white phosphorus, work in match factories threatened workers with phosphorus necrosis, which caused, in particular, inflammation and bleeding of the gums.
Safe matches
Industrial production of the first safe matches was started in Sweden in 1855 by Johan Lundström and became possible thanks to the discovery in 1844 by the Austrian chemist Anton von Schrotter (Anton von Schrotter, 1802-1875) of non-toxic amorphous phosphorus. The head of safe matches did not contain all the substances necessary for ignition: amorphous (red) phosphorus was applied to the wall of the match box. Therefore, the match could not be ignited by chance. The composition of the head included potassium chlorate mixed with glue, gum arabic, crushed glass and manganese dioxide. Such matches no longer caused harm to health, easily ignited on a previously prepared surface and practically did not ignite. In the same 1855, Lundstrom's matches were awarded a medal at the World Exhibition in Paris.
Modern wooden matches are made in two ways: the veneer method (for matches of a square section) and the stamped (for matches of a round section). Small aspen or pine chocks are either chipped or stamped with a match machine. Matches pass through five baths in succession, in which the fire-fighting solution is impregnated, a paraffin primer is applied to one end of the match to ignite the wood from the match head, a layer forming the head is applied over it, a second layer is applied to the tip of the head, the head is still sprayed with a strengthening solution protecting it from atmospheric influences. A modern match machine (18 meters long and 7.5 meters high) produces up to 10 million matches in an eight-hour shift.
Homemade knitting needle
A “match” comes from the plural form of the word “knitting needle” (pointed wooden stick). Initially, this word denoted wooden shoe nails, in this meaning of “match” still exists in a number of dialects. The matches used to extract the fire were initially called "incendiary (or samogar) matches."
In Russia, 99% of all matches produced are aspen gravel matches. Different types of matches are the main type of match in the world. Besteri (sesquisulfide) matches were invented in 1898 by French chemists Saven and Caen and are produced mainly in English-speaking countries, mainly for army needs. The basis of a rather complex composition of the head are non-toxic phosphorus sesquisulfide and Berthollet salt.
Match production in Russia
The production of phosphorus matches began in Russia around the years, but neither the packaging, nor the labels of the first factories were preserved, and accurate documentary data on their location has not yet been found. The first surge in the development of match production was in the e-gg. By the year in Russia, more than 30 match manufactories were already operating. In November, a law was passed that allowed the production of matches only in Moscow and St. Petersburg and limited the retail sale of matches. As a result, only one match factory remained in Russia. In the city it was allowed "everywhere, both in the Empire and in the Kingdom of Poland, to make phosphorus matches." By the year in Russia there were 251 registered matches production.
In Russia, early enough, they drew attention to the extreme danger of white phosphorus - already in the year restrictions on the circulation of white phosphorus appeared, and in the city excise taxes were set twice as high as on the “Swedish” matches. By the beginning of the 20th century, the production of matches using white phosphorus gradually came to naught.
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The first real matches were invented on April 10, 1833, when yellow phosphorus was introduced into the match head mass. This day is considered the birthday of the first match.
In Russian, the word “match” is derived from the old Russian word “match” - the plural form of the word “knitting needle” (pointed wooden stick). Initially, this word denoted wooden nails that were used in the manufacture of shoes (for attaching soles).
At first, the phrase “incendiary (or samogar) matches” was used to designate matches, and only after a wide distribution of matches did the first word begin to drop, and then completely disappeared from everyday life.
What are matches made of?
Most matchmaking enterprises make them from aspen. In addition to this type of wood, linden, poplar and other trees are also used. A special machine for making matches in an eight-hour working day can produce up to 10 million copies.
Why are matches burning?
When we three match heads against the wall of the box, a series of chemical reactions begins. The boxes are coated with plaster. It consists of red phosphorus, fillers and glue. During friction, the particles of red phosphorus turn into white, it heats up and lights up already at 50 degrees. The box lights up first, not the match. So that the spread on the box does not burn all at once, phlegmatizers are introduced into its composition. They absorb part of the heat generated.
Half of the mass of the head is oxidizing agents, in particular Bertolet salt. When decomposed, it easily gives off oxygen. In order to lower the decomposition temperature of the Berthollet salt, a catalyst is added to the composition of the mass - manganese dioxide. The main combustible substance is sulfur. So that the head does not burn out too quickly and does not fly apart, fillers are added to the mass: ground glass, zinc white, iron minium. All this is connected together by different adhesives.
What are the matches?
In addition to ordinary (household) matches, there are about 100 types of special matches that differ in size, color, composition and degree of burning.
The most common types are:
- storm - they burn even under water and in the wind (wind, hunting);
- thermal - they can be soldered (welded), since they emit a large amount of heat;
- signaling - capable of emitting a colored flame;
- fireplace and gas - long matches for kindling fireplaces and gas stoves;
- decorative (souvenir) - gift matches, often have a colored head;
- photographic - used to create an instant flash.
1. Matches with multi-colored heads (red, blue, brown, green, etc.), contrary to the existing myth, differ from each other only in color. They burn exactly the same.
2. A combustible mass for matches was once prepared from white phosphorus. But then it turned out that this substance is harmful to health - the smoke generated during combustion was toxic, and for suicide it was enough to eat only one match head.
3. The first Russian match manufactory was registered in 1837 in St. Petersburg. In Moscow, the first factory appeared in 1848. At first, matches were made from white phosphorus. Safe red phosphorus began to be used only in 1874.
4. The matchbox of the Soviet / Russian model according to GOST has a length of exactly 5 cm, which allows it to measure the size of objects.
5. Using a match, you can remove the ink stain from the oilcloth. To do this, slightly moisten the contaminated surface of the oilcloth tablecloth and rub the spot with the head of the match. After the disappearance of contamination, the oilcloth must be greased with olive oil, and then wiped with a cotton swab.
As the production manager reported during the tour, the match factory has been operating in Cherepovets for almost 40 years and is a full-cycle factory. I’ll tell you exactly how matches are made.
From childhood I was tormented by the question - how does one make a small match from a tree? It turned out, everything is quite simple. They take a log, cut it into thin sheets, cut the sheets already on sticks for matches. The logs themselves from the ends are painted with lime so as not to spoil.
Here the production is divided. One part of matchstick blanks is sent in boxes to other countries, so that they would make matches there themselves. The rest of the blanks go to the further production of matches - to chemical workshops (where they did not let me in for safety reasons). There matchsticks are impregnated with phosphoric acid, and then waxed so that they do not spoil (all who gnaw a match - spit it out urgently). Then the workpiece is dipped in sulfuric solution to make match heads.
By the way, about how to dip. The headers are inserted into the match matrix, a 2 meter wide tape, dipped in incendiary solution. Then on this tape match heads are dried. The spectacle is impressive, I tell you - thousands of matches in orderly rows.
While the matches are drying, matchboxes are made in another workshop. A drawing is printed on the cardboard from huge rolls, a “grater-stripper” is applied there, in the next step.
Matches "Zebra" - this is for export to Turkey and other Egypt. Tricolor inferior boxes for their own.
After that, the printed blanks are cut and bent into boxes by the shooting method from around the corner of the movie “Especially Dangerous”.
Next comes the filling of the boxes. It is interesting that in Soviet times there were about 60 matches in a box, in Russia 50 matches were already put in boxes, after the crisis it became about 40 (it reminded me of packaging with groats in a store of 900 grams - it seems like a whole pack, but the price is like kilogram). Further filled boxes are packed with plastic wrap in blocks of 10 pieces. Blocks are packed in boxes and sent to customers.
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Interestingly, the majority of workers in the workshops are women and youth. And everywhere you can see the remains of the past Soviet past - propaganda posters and slogans, altered in some places to modern ones (as in the photo below, the USSR flag was changed to Russian tricolor with two strokes).
At the end of the excursion, all participants were presented with a block of matches of various calibers - huge touristic (3 minutes burn), elongated hunting and usual in beautiful packages.
Matches are made of wood sticks (straws) with a head that ignites when rubbing on a spread (grater). This grater is applied to the sides of the matchbox.
As raw materials for the manufacture of match straws, aspen is used, less commonly, linden. For this purpose, a round veneer is removed from a round log block peeled from a log block by a special knife in a spiral, which is then laid in layers and chopped into a match straw.
When a match is burned, it is necessary, firstly, to get an incorruptible ember from the straw, and secondly, to keep the hot slag from the burned head on it to protect the consumer from burns of clothing if hot slag gets on it. In addition, a smoldering ember from straws naturally represents a fire hazard. In order to eliminate straw smoldering and fix the slag from the head on it, the straw is impregnated with substances that form a film on its surface during burning. Thanks to this film, the combustion of coal stops. The same film secures the slag from the head. Phosphoric acid and its salt, diammonium phosphate (NH 4) 2 HPO 4, are used as anti-smoldering substances.
To ensure the transition of the flame from the head to the straw, the latter near the head is impregnated with molten paraffin. Matches with non-waxed straws go out almost immediately after the combustion of the head. Paraffin is easily ignited by burning the head and gives a bright flame.
Matches for many decades have been one of the most important elements of human life, and even today they play an important role in our everyday life. Usually, striking a match with boxes, we don’t even think about what chemical reactions occur at that second and how much ingenuity and energy people put in order to have such a convenient means of making fire. Ordinary matches are undoubtedly one of the most amazing inventions of the human mind.
To be convinced of this, it is enough to recall how many efforts it took to make fire in earlier times. True, our ancestors abandoned the tiresome method of extracting fire by friction in antiquity. In the Middle Ages, a more convenient device appeared for this purpose - flint, but even with it, kindling a fire required a certain skill and effort. Upon the impact of steel, a spark was cut out on the flint, which fell on the tinder, saturated with nitrate. The tinder began to smolder. Putting a piece of paper, shavings, or any other kindling, they fanned the fire. Blowing up a spark was the most unpleasant moment in this occupation. But could you do without him?
A bit of history
Someone came up with a dip in a dry hole in molten sulfur. As a result, a sulfur head was formed at one tip of the torch. When the head was pressed against a smoldering tinder, it flashed. From it lit up the whole little hole. So the first matches appeared.
It must be said that throughout their previous history, people tried to get fire with the help of mechanical influences - friction or shock. With this approach, the sulfuric match could play only an auxiliary role, since it was impossible to directly fire with it, because it did not catch fire from either impact or friction.
But at the end of the XVIII century, the famous chemist Bertollet proved that the flame can be the result of a chemical reaction. In particular, if sulfuric acid is added to potassium hypochlorite (Bertholite salt), a flame will arise. This discovery made it possible to approach the problem of making fire from a completely different perspective. In different countries, many years of research began on the creation of matches with an end plastered with one or another chemical substance that could ignite under certain conditions.
In 1812, Chapsel invented the first self-igniting matches, still very imperfect, but with their help it was possible to get a flame much faster than with a flint. Shapsel's matches were wooden sticks with a head made of a mixture of sulfur, bertoletovoy salt and cinnabar (the latter served to paint incendiary mass in beautiful red color).
In sunny weather, such a match was ignited with a biconvex lens, and in other cases, in contact with a drop of concentrated sulfuric acid. These matches were very expensive and, in addition, dangerous, since sulfuric acid was sprayed upon ignition of the head and could cause burns. It is clear that they are not widespread.
Matches with heads lit up with light friction should have become more practical. However, sulfur was not suitable for this purpose. They searched for another flammable substance and then drew attention to white phosphorus, discovered in 1669 by the German alchemist Brand. Phosphorus is much more combustible than sulfur, but not everything worked out right away.
At first, the matches were ignited with difficulty, since phosphorus burned out too quickly and did not have time to ignite the torch. Then they began to apply it over the head of an old sulfuric match, suggesting that sulfur would catch fire faster from phosphorus than wood. But these matches also caught fire badly. Things only went right after substances began to be mixed with phosphorus, which, when heated, could release the oxygen necessary for ignition.
It is now difficult to say who was the first to invent a successful recipe for incendiary mass for phosphorus matches. Apparently, it was the Austrian Irini. In 1833, he proposed to entrepreneur Roemer the following method of making matches:
“You need to take some hot glue, best gum arabic, throw a piece of phosphorus into it and shake the flask with glue strongly. In hot glue, with strong agitation, phosphorus will break into small particles. They adhere so closely to the glue that a thick, whitish liquid forms. Further to this mixture you need to add finely ground powder of lead peroxide. All this is stirred until a uniform brown mass is obtained. First you need to cook sulfur dioxide, that is, small pieces, the ends of which are coated with sulfur.
Sulfur must be coated with a layer of phosphorus. To do this, sulfuric dipped in the prepared mixture. Now it remains to dry them. Thus, matches are obtained. They ignite very easily. They should only be struck against the wall. "
This description enabled Roemer to open a match factory. However, he understood that carrying matches in a pocket and striking them against a wall was inconvenient and came up with packing them in boxes on one side of which glued a rough piece of paper (they simply prepared it — dipped it in glue and poured sand or crushed glass on it).
When striking against such a piece of paper (or any rough surface), the match ignited. Having set up a trial production of matches for starters, Roemer then expanded production forty times - so great was the demand for his goods, and earned a lot of money on the production of matches. Other manufacturers followed his example, and soon in all countries phosphoric matches became popular and cheap goods.
Gradually, several different compositions of the incendiary mass were developed. Already from the description of Irini it can be seen that several components entered into the head of the phosphorus match, each of which performed its own functions. First of all, there was phosphorus, which played the role of an igniter. Oxygen-generating substances were mixed into it.
In addition to the rather dangerous salt of barletol, manganese peroxide or minium peroxide could be used in this role, and in more expensive matches, lead peroxide, which was generally the most suitable material. Less combustible substances were placed under the phosphorus layer, transmitting the flame from the igniter to a wooden torch. It could be sulfur, stearin or paraffin. In order for the reaction not to go too fast and the wood has time to warm up to the burning temperature, neutral substances, for example, pumice or powdery glass, were added. Finally, glue was mixed into the mass in order to interconnect all other components.
When the head was rubbed against a rough surface, heat appeared at the contact point, sufficient to ignite the nearest particles of phosphorus, from which others were ignited. In this case, the mass was so heated that the body containing oxygen decomposed. The oxygen released contributed to the ignition of a combustible substance that was under the head (sulfur, paraffin, etc.). From him, fire was transmitted to the tree.
A match - to the masses!
Match production from the very beginning took on a large scale, because the annual consumption of matches totaled tens and hundreds of billions. One could not do without comprehensive mechanization. The fabrication of matches was divided into two main operations:
1) the manufacture of sticks (knitting straws),
2) preparation of incendiary mass and dipping straws into it.
The most common species of wood for matches was aspen, as well as poplar, willow, pine, spruce, whose wood had strong straight fibers. Dried logs were cut into pieces about 1 m long. Each piece was chopped into four parts crosswise and the bark removed from it. The resulting block was reinforced on a carpentry bench and planed using a special planer, the working part of which consisted of several tubes, pointed at the front.
When such a plane passed along a tree, long round or rectangular sticks were obtained (depending on the shape of the tubes, straws could be given any cross section). Then irregularities formed in the form of grooves from dug outlets were smoothed out with a regular plane, the second layer was removed, the tree was leveled again and so on. The resulting specks were cut into pieces having a match length. This operation was carried out on a machine that had a very simple device.
The arches were placed in a trough and moved close to the control plate, and then with the help of a lever and a knife they cut off the set length.
It's time to mechanize the process
Instead of manual planing, a special machine soon began to be used. The wood here rested against the end of the bed and was processed using a cutting device, in which there were several pointed tubes cutting out the small holes when the cutting device moved. In order to undergo processing on this machine, the log was first cut into boards. This machine, however, had many shortcomings and gave a big departure. Therefore, in the future it was replaced by others, and the process of cutting the baffles was divided into several operations.
For further processing, the straw had to be laid in even and parallel rows. For this purpose, they also used a special machine. A blocked box was installed on the platform, which received fast shaking movements, and the distance between the partitions corresponded to the length of the match. With the rapid movement of the crate, straws were placed between the partitions in the compartments of the crate, and garbage fell through its lower holes. Then the box was removed and turned over. The straw remained on the board in parallel rows and in this form was sent to the dough.
Before dipping, the straws were placed in a special frame consisting of a base and two iron rods attached to it, on which wooden planks were worn. Across the planks were grooves arranged parallel to each other. The length of these grooves was made so that the straw laid in them protruded approximately a quarter of its length. The filled planks were put on the rods one above the other. From above, they were all covered with a board and clamped with wedges. Thus, a frame was obtained in which about 2500 matches were placed. Subsequently, this operation was mechanized and performed by a special typesetting machine.
Each match had to be dipped twice - first in sulfur or paraffin, and then in incendiary mass. Making incendiary mass was a complex matter requiring great precautions. Of particular importance was its thorough mixing. For this, each component was strongly ground to a powder state. Initially, the dipping of matches took place manually using a poppy pan.
The skillet pan consisted of two parts: flat and deep. The first was made slightly larger than the frame and served actually for dipping into the molten mass. Its layer here was insignificant and corresponded to the height of the waxed (or sulfuric) part of the match. The second part served as a reservoir for the mass and helped to maintain a constant level.
Later, a dummy machine was invented. It consisted of a cast-iron tank surrounded by another cast-iron tank. In the external tank was incendiary mass. Between both tanks warm water was poured to warm the mass. The inner tank was closed on all sides and only in the upper board had a transverse gap in which the roller was placed. Rotating, the roller captured its lower half of the mass from the tank and applied it to the ends of the matches.
For greater convenience, working on the top plate of the tank there was a special dummy plate on which a stacked frame was installed and which easily moved above the dummy roller with gear racks and gears mounted on the axis of the roller. Above the dummy roller was placed another, which served to uniformly press the stacked frames passing under it to the lower roller. From the dummy machine, stacked frames were transferred to the drying chamber. After drying, the matches were removed from the frames and stacked in boxes. For a long time this work was done manually, but then machines appeared for this operation.
Killing matches become safe
A major disadvantage of phosphorus matches was the toxicity of phosphorus. In match factories, workers quickly (sometimes in a few months) were poisoned with phosphorus vapor and became unable to work. The harmfulness of this production even exceeded the mirror and hat. In addition, a solution of incendiary mass in water gave the strongest poison that was used by suicides (and often killers).
In 1847, Schröter discovered the non-toxic amorphous red phosphorus. Since that time, there was a desire to replace them with dangerous white phosphorus. Earlier than others, the famous German chemist Bether was able to solve this problem. He prepared a mixture of sulfur and berthollet salt, mixing them with glue, and applied it to paraffin-coated beams. But, alas, it was impossible to light these matches on a rough surface.
Then Bether came up with the idea to grease a piece of paper with a special composition containing a certain amount of red phosphorus. When the matches were rubbed against such a surface, the particles of red phosphorus were ignited by the particles of the Bertholite salt of the head touching them and ignited the latter. New matches burned with a steady yellow flame. They did not produce smoke or the unpleasant odor that accompanied phosphorus matches. At first, Beether’s invention did not interest manufacturers.
For the first time “safe matches” began to produce in 1851, the Swedes brothers Lundstrem. Therefore, phosphorusless matches have long been called "Swedish." After the 1917 revolution, there was even a playful saying in Russia:
“The matches are Swedish, the heads are Soviet!
Five minutes stink, then fire. ”
As soon as safe matches became widespread, the production and sale of phosphorus matches was banned in many countries. After several decades, their release completely stopped.
A match consists of a head and a straw
Head is a suspension of powdered substances in a solution of glue. The number of powdered substances includes oxidizing agents - Bertolet's salt and potassium chromic peak, which give oxygen at high temperature, this temperature is slightly reduced by the addition of a catalyst - pyrolusite.
The sulfur contained in the head is oxidized by oxygen and oxygen from the oxidizing agent, while sulfur dioxide is released, which gives a characteristic odor to the igniting match, and when the head burns, a slag with pores similar to glass is formed. A brief flash of the head would not be enough to set fire to the straw. But the paraffin under the head boils when it burns, its vapors ignite, and this fire is transferred to the match straw. To control the burning rate, ground glass, zinc white, and iron minium are included in the number of powdered substances.
Matchwood in Russian and earlier Soviet matches most often represents an aspen stick. To avoid its decay, it is impregnated with a 1.5% solution of H 3 PO 4.
Putty matchbox, which is rubbed with a match when it is ignited, is also a suspension of powdery substances in a glue solution. But the composition of the powdered substances is somewhat different. These include antimony (III) sulfide and red phosphorus, which, when the head is rubbed against the spread, transforms into white phosphorus, which instantly flashes upon contact with air and sets the head on fire. To prevent the entire spreading from igniting during ignition, particles of red phosphorus are separated by poorly burning substances - iron minium, kaolin, gypsum, and ground glass.
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Match Head Composition |
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