Swedish Occupation: Saltpetersjudare

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The Manufacturing of Saltpeter

There is mention of saltpeter being used by the Greeks as early as ca. 1300 A.D.  Saltpeter was one of the ingredients of the first gunpower, black power. Black powder was discovered around 1300 and was first used for fire crackers. Fire arms were invented around 1400 and required the use of black powder. This put a greater need for saltpeter than could be found in the natural form, so saltpeter had to be produced. The best source of material to produce saltpeter was in cow stables in the decomposing material. There the saltpeter boilers a distinctive profession, dug the soil from stables periodically and extracted the saltpeter. The Saltpeter digger would break open the floor of a stable with a pick axe and dig out the soil with the decomposing material (manure). This soil would later be processed.

The farmers did not like to have the Saltpeter digger come but the diggers were backed by their governments who needed the black powder for defense. After digging up the stable soil, the soil was put in an extraction vat which had a filter layer of sand on the bottom of the vat. The vat was filled with water to separate the soluble components. The Saltpeter solution was then scooped into the reduction pan, a flat copper basin on a hearth. There, the solution was boiled down producing a saltpeter brine. The brine was poured into another vat to crystallize. Copper sticks in this vat collected the crystals. The saltpeter was then scratched off the copper sticks and the rest of the brine went back to the reduction pan again.

As the demand for more saltpeter increased the formation of Saltpeter plants began which produced the material for obtaining saltpeter as well as processing the saltpeter.

Chemical engineers are now able to produce saltpeter using technical chemistry. It is generally manufactured by treating sodium nitrate, mostly mined in Chile.

References:

Ulrich Bretscher’s Black Powder page, Saltpeter, http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/saltpeter.html

Wise Geek, clear answers for common questions, What is Salt Peter?, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-salt-peter.htm