the fester formula

This reaction makes roughly 3 moles of methylamine dissolved in methanol. Nitromethane model airplane fuel to methylamine, one needs a 2 or 3 necked flask, a good condenser, and a sep funnel. The flask should be at least 2000 ml in capacity. Into the flask put about 150g of heavy duty aluminum...

Has anybody ever had any luck with this process? I’m confused about the part where it says to add two drops of concentrated sulfuric acid to the ephedrine/acetic acid mixture but it also says to make sure no water is in the reaction mixture. Doesn’t concentrated sulfuric acid contain water? Also...