Fire is a reaction requiring three ingredients: fuel, heat, and oxygen.* Put any fuel (wood, say) in an area with an abundance of heat and oxygen, and you’ll get fire. But if you put your wood somewhere where there’s plenty of heat but minimal oxygen, then instead of fire, a different reaction takes place. It’s called “dry distillation,” and while less entertaining than watching the world burn, it’s arguably more useful! In dry distillation, the moisture and impurities in the wood get evaporated away without the wood burning, leaving behind a purer version of your fuel: purified lumps of
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