.
.
high O2 concentration in contact with machine oil, grease, certain plastics and rubbers can spontaneously burn
.
i have heard of setups where water is broke down to hydrogen and oxygen as used for a torch. as far as i know equipment is expensive. for occasional use probably cost you more money at the end of the year. obviously oxygen concentrator cost money too and money to run and maintain machine

 

I traded for it so cost wasn't an issue. They have oxyhydrogen electrolysis generators for $150 new on eBay. I might get one for fun someday...

 

One of those electrolysis machines would be a neat toy. What kind of pressure does your generator produce?


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Yeah I'm gonna get one of those electrolysis machines someday after I have everything else I need. I looked into running cars via electrolysis and learned that it takes more energy to separate the 02 and hydrogen in water so it is pointless to run a car off electrolysis. The electrolysis machine plugs into 220v which gives you a good indication that it isn't energy efficient and just good for being a toy.

My machine produces 5lpm at 93% purity and 10lpm at 90% purity and it is just as good as the oxygen from your tanks...

 

Oxygen doesn't explode...

It is an oxidizer. It simply promotes vigorous combustion. In absolute simplest terms, small fires burn hotter and more aggressively in the presence of an oxidizer.

There is no scenario where fire is going to shoot inside your oxygen cylinder and blow up.

As far as something exploding, acetylene is the most unstable gas you'll probably deal with in metal work.

 

Oxygen doesn't explode...
There is no scenario where fire is going to shoot inside your oxygen cylinder and blow up.

It's unfortunately a little more more complicated than that. Low pressure in the oxygen compared to acetylene side can cause acetylene to enter the oxygen line from the torch and you'll could end up with a fire inside your oxygen regulator and hoses. Which of course causes them to burn down immediately and then you have oxygen and acetylene free flowing and you could be in real trouble..
That's why you need flashback arrestors on your equipment.

All gas welding equipment is designed to prevent these things from happening but if you use other types of equipment, for instance a medical oxygen regulator, you are on your own.

Here is some more detail about different things like flash back, backfire etc.
http://www.harrisproductsgroup.com/en/Expert-Advice/Articles/Flashback-Arrestors.aspx

 

It might get immediate results to use the discarded gas as a back purge.

If it can get 20% oxygen up to 90% O2 the off gas should go from 80% nitrogen to 99% (or so) of N2.

 

Good thinking!....wonder how that stuff would do with mig or tig as the gas shroud.
Have to wonder how the concentrator works at all!

 

To put low pressure oxygen into a high pressure tank, you need an oxygen compatible booster pump.
When you compress a gas it get hot and oxygen, heat and something that can burn is what you need for a fire. Almost anything can burn if the heat is high enough, that how we cut steel with oxygen (you don't acetylene anymore when it becomes hot enough). That's why the booster has to be compatible for oxygen, as there are other boosters that are made for other gasses.

 

when i was young and foolish i once took a balloon and since already air filled i cut end off. i took oxyacetylene torch set flame neutral and popped flame out against bench then filled balloon smaller than soccer ball bigger than softball size. i tie balloon to vise.
.
then at arms length i ignite balloon which goes BOOM. the explosion
1) almost knock me over
2) my left ear was overloaded i only hear noise in my right ear from echo coming off wall 50 feet away. i have hearing loss in my left ear
3) explosion knock dust off steel ceiling beams 20 feet up
4) people on other side of 12 foot wall saw flash of bight light go over the wall
5) my boss hears noise and comes out of meeting in office about 200 feet away. so i got to explain to him
.
bottom line things do not just flash and create a quite fireball. they explode violently with blast air wave. sure it was part cause it was acetylene which explodes easy but it is intensified alot by oxygen
.
i would not under estimate the power of oxygen in fires and explosions

 

did a little research...oxy concentrators work by compressing air, and under "high" pressure pass it thru a porous mineral called zeolite. The nitrogen is adsorbed (not a spelling mistake) and what comes out is 95+% o2. The thing works in cycles so when the pressure is off, the (mostly) nitrogen comes back out and is flushed. Sounds like with some work u could harvest both gases for use?.... .

 

...The nitrogen is adsorbed (not a spelling mistake) ...

In school, I adsorbed a lot of formulas, facts and figures. But once the pressure was off, all that leaked back out and dissipated.

 

does it work for welding or cutting with only pure oxygen? i dont think so.Most of welding work maybe needs high pressure gas cylinder but a risk of explosion.But there is a kind of water electrolysis called oxy-hydrogen generators which no gas cylinders and replacing the oxy-propane fuels.I have founded many welding and cutting videos on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIdwyzLABUI) sharing to yours.

 

That is some bad stuff apparently. Be careful how you store it! You have too much to teach me yet! It is amazing how differently some things act when you change there size. I guess we are really just talking about getting things in the proper physical size to balance the fuel/oxygen ratio.


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That aluminum grinding dust I spoke of is not all that reactive (or unstable). For one thing the heat from grinding along with the oxygen in the air has already got it partially oxidized. Mostly I see it as useful for adding little sparkly bits to home made pyrotechnics. Next time you've got a bunch of it on your welding table light your cutting torch and use it to blow it off and you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

Yeah I was kidding there a little. I had not thought about the oxidation part. I wonder how they make the other stuff now. I suppose it is mechanical some how to keep from heating it. For the record, you think too highly of me. I am only qualified for 1/2"+ steel.


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The really reactive aluminum powder is known as "German Dark". It's made by tumbling aluminum in a ball mill along with a little bit of charcoal. The purpose of the charcoal is simply to coat the little particles as they're formed so that they don't start to oxidize. It's freely available to buy on the internet. That little packet of powder (the catalyst) that comes with your standard "Tannerite" target is just that. The other ingredient (the oxidizer) is just ammonium nitrate fertilizer. The basic formula is 1 teaspoon of German Dark aluminum powder for every 1/2 lb. of ammonium nitrate.

 

German dark you say? I thought that was the really good kind of chocolate. I am going to have to look at ball mill. Not sure I have ever heard of one.


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concerning the creative use of "dust" for entertainment purposes.... This is a big wack of real fine wood sanding dust launched with compressed air (and an ignition source). This is mainly where I've been thinking that mixing in some of that aluminum grinding dust might provide some enhancement.

 

concerning the creative use of "dust" for entertainment purposes.... This is a big wack of real fine wood sanding dust launched with compressed air (and an ignition source). This is mainly where I've been thinking that mixing in some of that aluminum grinding dust might provide some ******* entertainment.

View attachment 1676661

******* entertainment can come in many forms

 

I've seen powdered coffee creamer flash when poured over a lit match.

 

Here's two compressed oxygen concentration setups, they use ganged concentrators, and gast medical grade pumps to fill a air compressor tank.
They call it a low pressure high volume set up,
I'm gonna build one some day :cool2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4_4E1O7ayE&t=13s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5hP0YX2-fk

 

Or you can get a Invicare Homefill and set up a low volume high pressure, but these work best with the 20cf Oxygen tanks, as it takes about two hours to do a 20CF & 24hrs to do a 125CF bottle which is hard on the machine. You have to get an adapter whip from a glass blowing supply to convert from medical to welding gas tanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_yjqZTaT88

 

You can build any transfill whip you want with high pressure parts from the Western catalog, then Google the part numbers and also check Ebay for best prices. I transfill medical cylinders for small jobs like salvage yard part harvesting). Only use parts designed for high pressure oxygen. Never use hardware store fecal fittings or parts.

When filling from an oxygen cylinder I use an oxygen tee so I can monitor pressure with a welding oxygen regulator on the opposite side of the tee from the whip then shut off the cylinder valve when pressure equalizes. The regulator is then used to bleed the oxygen from the whip assembly after both cylinder valves are closed.

General aviation pilots often fill their portable tanks similarly.

INSPECT your oxygen cylinders! Don't use any with gouges, corrosion or other defects because failures happen now and then with medical cylinders and you presumably don't want to be horribly injured.

Make sure you know what cleaning parts to "oxygen safe" standards requires and don't fornicate around. Acetone works well and is recommended in some manuals.

High pressure oxygen thread sealants exist but they are expensive. VERIFY the pressure rating before you buy because low pressure versions are different. You shouldn't need it but it's worth knowing it's available.

Never use any cylinder or container not designed for high pressure oxygen.