For pyrotechnics enthusiast, Paulownia charcoal is legendary for its power and performance. If you are in the need of extremely fast burning black powder, paulownia is a fantastic choice. It is an excellent choice for use in firework aerial shell lift and burst charges. Our charcoal is ball milled, ready to go through your mesh. Sold in 1 gallon cans which is about 1 pound. Please email (davidsutton@paulowniasource.com) for better pricing on orders over 6 gallons more.
Black-powder speed is governed almost entirely by the charcoal, because the nitrate (oxidizer) and the sulfur (sensitizer) are the same no matter what wood is used. Paulownia happens to give a form of charcoal whose physical structure and chemistry maximize every factor that makes black powder burn fast:
Ultra-low wood density → huge internal surface area • Paulownia weighs only ~0.20–0.30 g cm⁻³. • When it is carbonized, the thin cell walls become paper-thin carbon foils surrounding enormous lumens. • The resulting charcoal is “fluffy” and porous, so every gram exposes far more surface to the potassium nitrate than willow, alder, pine, etc.
Very soft, friable charcoal → finer milling, tighter intimate contact • Paulownia charcoal crumbles almost by rubbing it between the fingers. • In a ball mill it rapidly reduces to sub-10 µm flakes that shear and smear around the nitrate crystals, producing a paste-like composite instead of a simple mixture. • This vastly shortens diffusion distances for the reaction gases, accelerating the burn front.
High volatile-matter content (brown/soft char) → built-in gaseous “igniters” • Charred at 250-350 °C paulownia retains a large fraction of tarry pyrolysis products. • Those volatiles flash to gas at ignition temperature, pressurising the grain interior and cracking it open, multiplying burning surface instantaneously.
Low ash, low silica, low mineral ballast • Ash is inert; every percent of it dilutes the fuel. • Paulownia ash is typically <1 %, much lower than many other woods, leaving more reactive carbon per gram.
Trace alkali metals (K, Ca) that catalyse combustion • Although minor, the natural potassium/calcium salts left in the wood speed up carbon oxidation, shaving milliseconds off the pressure rise time.
When all three components are pressed or corned, the powder made with paulownia charcoal develops peak pressure sooner than any other common charcoal, so it “feels” more powerful even though its total energy per gram is virtually the same. Laboratory strand-burn tests and mortar range tests routinely show paulownia powders out-pacing classic willow powders by 10–25 %.
In short: paulownia’s exceptionally porous, soft, volatile-rich, low-ash charcoal creates the largest reactive surface and the fastest gas release, giving it the reputation of making the quickest black powder.
