My high temp salt pot

[JCPollard]

I wanted to share my salt pot build . I started by building a furnace . 100lb propane tank cut in half filled with refractory.Pretty basic crucible furnace. I made 2 lids 1 for using as a crucible furnace and the other for salt pot. The salt pot furnace lid is made to keep any salt from getting inside. I read salt left in a furnace from a pot failure can lead to a new pot failure very quickly. So I figured salt from anywhere can't be good. I used a recipe I found online for the refractory. Using fire clay and broken up firebrick . Ratio was 3 parts crushed brick pea size and finer and 2 parts fire clay. I built my salt pot out of 2 pieces of black steel pipe and some 3/8 plate. pot ID 3 " OD 4" 18" deep. The pipes are schedule 80 3 and 3 1/2 " I turned the OD of the 3" to fit inside the 3 1/2 " Both pipe were plugged and welded and bottom plate was welded on . Giving a 1 1/8 bottom thickness and 3 welds that would need to fail before pot failure. I also bought a piece of SS tubing 5 " to put in the furnace as a muffle to help protect the pot. I run the furnace on propane until I can get used motor oil and diesel fuel mix to burn without smoking. The propane is a lot nicer but experimenting with making crucibles and test running the furnace gets expensive. I enjoyed making this setup and hope to build more HT equipment. If it wasn't for the knowledge others shared I wouldn't of had a clue where to start. By the way molten salts spit, spurt and erupt.They will burn if not kill you if not treated with respect. Obviously read all safety information you can. It will take less time than recovering from an accident.safety first. I am using this pot outside in a well ventilated minimal wood structure. If I had to pay someone to weld for me and do machine work I would have gone with stainless. less to pay for machine work and welding. I hope this pot last a long time thru many runs however if it doesn't I will post the failure .I know Not if but when.

[sdeering]

What are you using for salt. I have a forge at home I could do the same thing with. Thanks for the post.
Stephen