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Author: Subject: How to increase the temperature of a slow burning fuel?
deltaH
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[*] posted on 24-2-2015 at 08:21


Quote: Originally posted by Bert  

... Bad things happened to a few GI's using burning chunks of C4 for ration heating under those conditions.


That was tested on mythbusters and 'busted'.

AJKOER, okay, now I get the idea of what you're trying to do, wasn't sure if your fuel was liquid or solid.

For liquids, if it's a volatile alcohol, what you ideally need is another liquid fuel that has higher heat of combustion AND either (i) boils very close to the boiling point of your alcohol or whatever mix is there or (ii) forms an azeotrope with your alcohol. This is important or you mixture will burn off more of the volatile component at first and so change flame characteristics as it goes, which is bad for gel fuels that you're lighting as a 'batch' and burning for some time. This is not a problem for direct injection combustion where everything is volatilised anyhow.

I would simply blend with hydrocarbons, remember also that nitrogen in the fuel can create fuel NOx, so not appropriate for indoors. I'd stick to hydrocarbons and oxygenates to be safe.

As for azeotropes, a hydrocarbon and alcohol is more likely to result in an azeotrope than an ether and alcohol, for example, but an ether and alcohol where the boiling point of the ether used is close to the alcohol is also fine. Again, you would also need to cross reference with things that can be commercially bought cheaply of course, makes everything extra interesting ;)





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[*] posted on 24-2-2015 at 08:31


Quote: Originally posted by deltaH  
Quote: Originally posted by Bert  

... Bad things happened to a few GI's using burning chunks of C4 for ration heating under those conditions.


That was tested on mythbusters and 'busted'.



They actually busted something that couldn't be busted with a piece of paper, a pencil and 5 minutes of time? ;)




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[*] posted on 24-2-2015 at 08:51


"Mythbusters" is entertainment, not statistically valid research. To me, they are mostly annoying- Please just give their production budget to some actual engineers, you could then have useful research.

I have watched them massively fail to get the point, "prove" the false and "bust" the true off of a far too limited number of trials, often conducted within insanely wrong, ignorant parameters... Hopeless.





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[*] posted on 24-2-2015 at 08:59


Quote: Originally posted by Bert  
"Mythbusters" is entertainment, not statistically valid research. To me, they are mostly annoying- Please just give their production budget to some actual engineers, you could then have useful research.

I have watched them massively fail to get the point, "prove" the false and "bust" the true off of a far too limited number of trials, often conducted within insanely wrong, ignorant parameters... Hopeless.



Can't disagree with a syllable there. Rather comically the Pretzeldent felt he had to endorse MB. MB thought that was kewl. Very kewl for their bottom line, that is. ;)




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[*] posted on 24-2-2015 at 09:20


Bert, are there any documented cases of bad things happening to GI's you can point to concerning this myth?

[Edited on 24-2-2015 by deltaH]




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[*] posted on 24-2-2015 at 09:39


I agree, although they usually do good (and fun) experiments they sometimes lack a couple of engineers. Their biggest problem is that the show can't deal with the statistically improbable, even though I expect they do a lot more work than what is shown. Results in the improbable range are also not viewer friendly, they want a definitive answer. I wish they could be a little more selective in their choice of myths sometimes, but it's still more fun than most other shows out there.



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[*] posted on 24-2-2015 at 10:02


Quote: Originally posted by Fulmen  
[...] but it's still more fun than most other shows out there.


Disagree. Watching paint dry is more interesting in most cases. Not to mention that annoying self-congratulatory tone, 'aren't we cool?' (A. NO!) and infantile presentation. It's a money spinner and that's its only purpose.

Some claim it's 'educational'? How? By proving you can't catapult illegal aliens across the border? That cars can't be made to fly by strapping fire crackers to them?

[Edited on 24-2-2015 by blogfast25]




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[*] posted on 24-2-2015 at 11:06


:o I would pay to see either one of those attempted!



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[*] posted on 24-2-2015 at 13:49


You could look at some of the gelling agents used in Napalm. I believe that some of these could be used to give a hotter burning flame, probably at the cost of adding some smell... Aluminum salts of Napthalene come to mind.
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[*] posted on 24-2-2015 at 15:07



I believe placing stuff like carbon black can increase burning rate due to its ability to absorb radiation as the fuel burns and thereby increases the temperature of the burning front.
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[*] posted on 25-2-2015 at 11:27


Quote: Originally posted by jock88  

I believe placing stuff like carbon black can increase burning rate due to its ability to absorb radiation as the fuel burns and thereby increases the temperature of the burning front.


I don't think you've thought this through very well. Adding carbon means adding fuel. And carbon burns very hot (compare charcoal fired furnaces to gas fired ones, for instance).

But it's ability to 'absorb radiation' has nothing to do with anything. It has to return that radiation otherwise it would heat to beyond the temperature of the fire, at which point the Second Law dictates it must start losing heat to that environment again.

Carbon adds kJ of combustion Enthalpy to the burning object but nothing more.

[Edited on 25-2-2015 by blogfast25]




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[*] posted on 25-2-2015 at 11:39


Thanks for all of the suggestions.

I also have an idea of dissolving sulfur in Toluene (highly flammable, see comments by Woelen on a safe procedure to dissolve the sulfur at http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=5831.0 ). I am thinking of employing the mix in a burner in small amounts with an added air stream.

An issue appears that I have not as of yet secured a convenient and reasonably priced supply of Toluene.

Interesting also, there is a comment on the internet of using Toluene as an octane booster.
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[*] posted on 25-2-2015 at 12:01


Quote: Originally posted by AJKOER  
Going commercial creates a whole new burden with respect to safety and legal liability issues, of course, but does provide the luxury of scale and possible expanded access to things like CaC2,..

What are you going to do with this? Are you trying to make a commercial product? If so, I don't think people are going to want sulfur dioxide to be a combustion product. Also, what advantage does sulfur dissolved in toluene have over pure toluene?




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[*] posted on 25-2-2015 at 14:21


Quote: Originally posted by Molecular Manipulations  
Quote: Originally posted by AJKOER  
Going commercial creates a whole new burden with respect to safety and legal liability issues, of course, but does provide the luxury of scale and possible expanded access to things like CaC2,..

What are you going to do with this? Are you trying to make a commercial product? If so, I don't think people are going to want sulfur dioxide to be a combustion product. Also, what advantage does sulfur dissolved in toluene have over pure toluene?


No, this is just an experiment (that I am not likely to forget) and certainly not intended to be a commercial product.

Reducing the sulfur content of a fuel will reduce its heat content (see, for example, http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=20092 ) and increasing the opposite effect.

[Edited on 26-2-2015 by AJKOER]
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