[TheForge] hot portable atmospheric forges may need propylene

[James Binnion]

>Now the dumb question:  Can't you separate water into O2 and H2 and 
>funnel the gases into the burner nozzle?  Battery charger, fish 
>tank, hood and fan?
>
>-Chris K.

Electrolysis works quite well. the drawback is the cost of the 
electricity. It takes a lot of current to create any significant 
volume of gas. The torches used by the jewelers use about a kilowatt 
of electricity to produce a flame that is coming out of a .040" 
orifice about 5" long. The gas flow very low and at almost 0 
pressure. This is why it doesn't self ignite. Larger systems do 
exist, we used one to generate our breathing oxygen on the submarine 
but of course we had a nuclear reactor to provide power for it. It 
used hundreds of kilowatts and might produce enough gas flow to run a 
forge :-) It operated at very high pressure and was designed so that 
the H and O2 did not come in contact with each other. It was known as 
the "bomb"  because one of the early systems had a malfunction that 
allowed the gasses to mix at operating pressure and it promptly 
exploded killing the operator. The large amounts of electrical power 
required is the main problem with generating hydrogen via 
electrolysis.
-- 
Jim Binnion

James Binnion Metal Arts
Phone (360) 756-6550
Toll Free (877) 408 7287
Fax (360) 756-2160
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jbin at mokume-gane.com
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