Helium running out!

Discussion in 'General Science & Technology' started by John Connellan, Jan 14, 2009.

  1. Neverfly Banned Banned

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    Oh, I don't know. That one is a self solving problem.
     
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  3. Billy T Use Sugar Cane Alcohol car Fuel Valued Senior Member

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    Nothing happens if the lighting spark is far enough up in the helium.
     
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  5. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Ahem... Wake up, Billy, I said nothing at all about HELIUM.
     
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  7. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Deleted duplicate post
     
  8. Billy T Use Sugar Cane Alcohol car Fuel Valued Senior Member

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    Yes my dyslexia seems to be getting worse - that´s the second misreading in as many days triggered by my expectations (it is a thread on He) instead of what is printed. (ElectricFetus corrected the other one)

    However, comment is still true - sparks in essentially pure H2 are not harmful either. Even more surprising is you can put a lite candle out with gasoline, but don´t try that. Gasoline does not burn (nor do wood logs until mainly hot carbon) - It is the vapor of gasoline that burns.

    Not easy to dump liquid gasoline on a lite candle with no fire resulting. - It should be quite cold* and in tightly streched balloon above the candle that gets popped by pin so cold without vapor liquid quenches the candle. My point was and is that there is no fire unless O2 is available.

    *Colder than your freezer can make - Again don´t try to do this without a liquid N2 bath for cooling the gasoline.
     
  9. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    An easy mistake to make.

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    And yes, I'm well aware that there is a specific ratio range of fuel : oxidizer for every flammable gas. Above or below those limits, no amount of attempts at ignition is going to cause a reaction/explosion.

    What you say of gasoline is quite true, given it's fairly high vapor pressure. And it's an interesting contrast to consider the fact that a bucket of kerosene, diesel fuel, jet aviation fuel can be safely used to extinguish a *small* fire with no drastic cooling required. Again, just a simple matter of vapor pressure at normal temperatures.
     
  10. Billy T Use Sugar Cane Alcohol car Fuel Valued Senior Member

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    New demand and storage for helium may cut current He losses:

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    "Aeroscraft features a rigid 70-meter skeleton made of aluminum and carbon fiber, with 365-horsepower piston engines, automatic buoyancy control systems and high-tech electronics and fuel systems. The US Department of Defense and NASA have invested $35 million in this prototype. ... In just three years’ time, Worldwide Aeros is set to construct a 137-meter-long airship – nearly twice as long as the Aeroscraft – which could fly at 220 kph, with a hefty payload of 66 tons and a range of 3,100 nautical miles (5,700 kilometers).

    But over the long term, Worldwide Aeros says it could eventually build an airship capable of carrying 500 tons, with a range of 5,300 nautical miles (9,800 kilometers) – double the 250-ton payload of the world’s biggest cargo aircraft, the Antonov An-225 Mria."

    Video showing some internal details here: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-13/worldwide-aeros-aims-to-turn-blimps-into-cargo-craft
     

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