RUUUUUN Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 I was reading a periodic website and the guy was talking about hydrogen gas production through electricicty, I figured I could make it cheper through the HCl/Al route. Anyhow I made some and hooked a small tube up to it and made an H torch! I had fun with my torch for a few mins and then I thought hey, what if I bubble it through water and light the bubbles as they come up, I did it and they popped, I was suprised, they popped pretty good for being 1/8 inch in diameter (roughly). Sadly we don't have any balloons or I probably wouldn't have an eyebrows tonight. Tomorrow I am going to make soapy water so I get bigger bubbles. hence a louder pop, I am thinking very cheap pyro for the fourth next year. Large H balloons, like garbage bag size, has anyone lit a balloon that big? It should make a nice fireball at least... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swany Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 The H2 (to be politically correct, it is diatomic) from HCl/Al is contaminated with water and HCl gas, as it is quite exothermic, save you dilute your HCl to >5%. NaOH+Al produces H2 at an acceptable rate, at a higher purity, and you can get more per volume of solution(NaOH>HCl in soluabilities) Water is good. If you plan on saving the O2, don't use a -Cl salt as an electrolyte. Ususally, tap water will conduct acceptably. Fun stuff, wait till it gets going before making a torch. I belive that (skinflint) had a flask explode when the H2 inside mixed with the air, because it had not yet accelerated to the rate such that the whole flask was filled with H2, and thus not flammable. Rather, when it was lit, it exploded. Charming. Fun stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novocaine Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Becareful, H2 balloons have the habit of blowing up due to static discharges, espically if mixed with air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBang Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Balloons of that size would be pretty dangerous. I have done a few regular balloons and they were quite loud. Infact, my 18" ones set off a few car alarms. Try a small balloon to give you a feew for it, and you probably won't want huge ones after you try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroJoe Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Are hydrogen filled balloons louder than acetylene balloons? I heard acetlyene filled balloons make some pretty big booms.. although ive been to afraid to try it. I have a big tank of acetelyne in my shop for welding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoony Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Well my dads mate did a balloon that was acetylene/oxygen 80/20 and when he lit it, he couldnt hear properly for half an hour later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 The sound and power of gas balloons is much higher with added oxygen. Also, acetylene is much louder in my experience that hdrogen balloons. Be careful with hthese things though! Do not underestimate the addition of oxygen, as it may cost you your hearing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justanotherpyro Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Indeed. I've had a lot of fun with oxy/acetylene balloons. Definately want to be about 20 feet away, because they are as loud, if not louder than a heavy load 12g shotgun shell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUUUUUN Posted March 17, 2006 Author Share Posted March 17, 2006 I havent got any balloons yet, I never go to the store. I use soap and let the bubbles pile up untill I had about 1 cubic inch of bubbles and lit it, it was louder than a black cat fire cracker. I'm rather impressed. If I use electricity to make the H2 and the O, and collect them both in the same balloon, will it be the perfect explosive ratio, or will I have to add/subtract O? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fried Chicken Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 I havent got any balloons yet, I never go to the store. I use soap and let the bubbles pile up untill I had about 1 cubic inch of bubbles and lit it, it was louder than a black cat fire cracker. I'm rather impressed. If I use electricity to make the H2 and the O, and collect them both in the same balloon, will it be the perfect explosive ratio, or will I have to add/subtract O? Well, if you use electrolysis, it will come in a perfect ratio for maximum bang. It's not as loud as a blackcat firecracker, but it's really good for the size, especially considering it's just gasses. I was able to catch the oxygen/hydrogen in a small water balloon, and light that, and boy that's loud, and really bright. I even built a small device out of a glue bottle that I fill with water. It has to graphite rods in it, which I got from a lantern battery. It works very well. Anyway, as a power source I use a rechargeable battery, because it sucks battery so fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeppelin Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 if you are looking for a nice, loud explosion from a baloon, what I find is best is filling a baloon about halfway up with butane, and the other half with welder's oxygen. Works like a charm! By the way, Happy St. Paricks Day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 The stoichiometric ratio does not produce the loudest boom. I believe you want an excess of H2 in there. In addition to being louder, it should also produce a nice fireball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBang Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Yeah, and also I think there is a limit to size vs. bang. I'm sure it is a huge number so you would never reach it, but it is a curiousity. Think about the hindenberg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomer Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 I'm not so sure about fuel rich being louder. It will give a longer lasting pressure pulse (more impulse) though. The stoich mix will be most destructive in the very near field, since it DETONATES easiest. Think 2500m/s instead if 250m/s, and remember 10 times the speed gives 100 times the peak pressure. While for hobbyists it is almost impossible to get an FAE cloud to detonate, C2H2/O2 is a different matter, especially in garbage bag sizes. Be careful when scaling up, remember that three times the size is 27 times the volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwstag Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 I just found out today Hydrogen burns green? Mine did when I tested a bit of Al/HCl in a test tube and sparked it. A little green flame was floating around in there.. Very interesting. I tried with my fuel cell and it burns orange/yellow... Wierd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 That was probably some chlorine gas, or some other chlorine compound. Making Hydrogen from HCl puts HCl gas in with the hydrogen. Hydrogen definatly burns orangish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axt Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Random gasseous VOD's fired in small diametres (<10mm) this is det speed, deflagration is much slower. 2H2 + O2 = 2820m/sH2 + N2O = 2300m/sH2 + Cl2 = 1730m/s2C2H2 + 5O2 = 2390m/sC2H2 + 2NO = 2850m/s Taken from "Explosives" by Brunswig (1909) translated by Munroe & Kibler. So, shes quite old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justanotherpyro Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 I havent got any balloons yet, I never go to the store. I use soap and let the bubbles pile up untill I had about 1 cubic inch of bubbles and lit it, it was louder than a black cat fire cracker. I'm rather impressed. If I use electricity to make the H2 and the O, and collect them both in the same balloon, will it be the perfect explosive ratio, or will I have to add/subtract O?Well, if you use electrolysis, it will come in a perfect ratio for maximum bang. It's not as loud as a blackcat firecracker, but it's really good for the size, especially considering it's just gasses. I was able to catch the oxygen/hydrogen in a small water balloon, and light that, and boy that's loud, and really bright. I even built a small device out of a glue bottle that I fill with water. It has to graphite rods in it, which I got from a lantern battery. It works very well. Anyway, as a power source I use a rechargeable battery, because it sucks battery so fast. Thats a nice home brew setup there. I like the idea of the rechargeable Rc car battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p_y_r_o Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 HiSorry for this exstreamly Armature question. But in the Electrolysis of water what can your electrodes be made out of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Von Bass` Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 i believe anything can be used for the elctrode, but some things will react and others wont work well. I use a piece of wire, but multi strand works better as it has a larger surface area for the bubbles to form on ( thats my understanding anyway! ) i think gold is what is used industrially becuase it is unreactive, but most wires can be used for some time with minimal impurities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douchermann Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 It all depends on your electrolyte used. I use carbon electrodes any time I can, but I'm also looking at using mercury for somethings (which are unrelated to the production of hydrogen). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p_y_r_o Posted April 2, 2006 Share Posted April 2, 2006 o.kcan i use standard copper wire if my electrolyte is sodium chloride? also would this give off chlorine gas (which is not so fun) also can anybody tell me if a higher voltage but lower current would increase the rate of electrolyis (a transformer) i apologise for my lack of knowledge on electrochemistry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb51 Posted April 2, 2006 Share Posted April 2, 2006 Wait a sec, how can I get hydrogen from electrolysis? I have a car charger, now what? I searched, but didn't find anything. Can someone please give me a detailed run down of this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroJoe Posted April 2, 2006 Share Posted April 2, 2006 One quick search on google and the first link had a lot of info... I dont think you searched that hard Anyways, to get hydrogen from electrolysis get 2 graphite rods. Place them in some water around 4-5" apart. Put some salt in the water and it will speed up the process. Connect the postive clamp to one rod and the negative clamp to the other. The hydrogen gas will come off the (-) Negative rod, while Oxygen will come from the (+) Positive rod. Here is the link to one of the many sites on this subject. http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Stories/001.1/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintballtwib Posted April 22, 2006 Share Posted April 22, 2006 I used pencils for my electrodes. Well, not the actual pencils, the graphite inside. Silly Goose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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