Today, Wednesday May 7th to 16:30the conclave opens to appoint the new pontiff after the disappearance of Pope Francis. 133 cardinals with less than 80 years of age will meet in the Sistine Chapel To start the votes that will elect the 267th pontiff of the Vatican history. As per tradition, at the end of each ballot the electoral cards will come burned inside the Sistine Chapel, giving life to a smoke black In case of quorum (for this reason it is 89 votes) not reached or a white In case of confirmed election, the color of the smoke therefore indicates the outcome of the ballot. The first smoke is expected for today not before 19:00while for the following days there are two votes (with related smokes) in the morning at 10:30 And 12:00 and in the afternoon 17:30 And 19:00. The smokes of 10:30 and 17:30 can only be white in color or there will be not.
The stove used for the burning of the cards is made in cast iron, It has a cylindrical shape and measures about 1 meter For 45 cm in diameter. In its lower part there is one door To turn on the trigger while in its upper part one to introduce the cards to be incinerated. In the past the black smoke it was obtained from the simple combustion of the cards, while for that white was added of the Wet straw. The problem is sometimes the resulting smoke was not so clear for the crowd, often generating more doubts than confirmation.
For this reason, in recent times a system has been introduced that includes aauxiliary equipment a smoke to make smokes more visible. It is a tool inside which there are two compartments, one to put light -colored smoke bombs and one for those of dark color. To coordinate everything there is also an electrical control unit whose task is to manage the leakage of smoke during the burning of the cards.
Obviously the flues of the stove and the machine flow on the cover of the building, so that the smoke is clearly visible throughout the San Pietro square.
