Conclave, Sistine's smoke mystery revealed

Conclave, Sistine's smoke mystery revealed
di Stella Prudente
1 Minuto di Lettura
Mercoledì 13 Marzo 2013, 15:47
VATICAN CITY - On Tuesday, the Vatican press office revealed the composition of the colored smoke used to signal the results of the voting during the conclave. The white smoke, used to announce the election of a new pope, combines potassium chlorate, milk sugar (which serves as an easily ignitable fuel) and pine rosin. The black smoke, which was already used twice to signal that no one in the first round of balloting received the necessary two-thirds vote of the 115 cardinals, uses potassium perchlorate and anthracene (a component of coal tar), with sulfur as the fuel.



The chemicals are electrically ignited in a special stove first used for the conclave of 2005, a Vatican statement said. The stove sits in the Sistine Chapel next to an older stove in which the ballots are burned. The colored smoke and the smoke from the ballots mix and travel up a long copper flue to the chapel roof, where the smoke is visible from St. Peter’s Square. A resistance wire is used to preheat the flue so it draws properly, and the flue has a fan as a backup to ensure that no smoke enters the chapel.
© RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA