Halloween Flame Sprinkler

ammosmoke · Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:26 pm

I want to create a crazy propane fireball thingy. I don't know if I will get the ok from the gods, but here goes. I want to connect a bbq propane tank to one of these or similar, turn it on, and light up. What do you think will happen?

starman · Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:39 pm

I would make sure you have a regulator on the feed to that thing and start out low and crank it up slowly. It's hard to know really without trying it.

There's a decent chance the flames may not be that visible.

biggsauce · Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:43 pm

It may not spin, but I'm willing to bet that at night, it sure will be noticable 8)

Lentamentalisk · Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:00 am

well I have cut open a propane hose, and then dumped it straight out through a 1/4" pipe, and I can tell you it is Fing awesome at night, but you can't even see it in the day. You end up with a 2' long fireball of intense raging blue flame, starting a good 3" past the end of the pipe. I will try to upload a video in a sec.
[youtube][/youtube]

ammosmoke · Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:19 am

Cool! I was talking about a bbq tank, so it will have a regulator.

psycix · Wed Oct 08, 2008 10:25 am

For spinning you need either alot of gas bursting out at high speed or a liquid (what its made for).

Why dont you try it with gasoline?

Well, actually, don't try. But propane is basically too clean and thus doesnt burn light and shiny with a golden flame. Maybe see if you can add charcoal particles, coffee creamer or flour in the propane stream for more flame color.

jimmy101 · Wed Oct 08, 2008 10:58 am

Besides the obvious safety concerns ...

A propane flame will be light blue and nearly invisible, even at night, if the air to fuel mixture is anywhere near correct.

If the flame is very rich (too much fuel, not enough air) the flame will be orange like a candle and will be very visible. (If you take a Bernzomatic propane torch and cover the air inlet holes you'll get an orange flame similar to what a candle produces.)

So you want a very rich mixture, which means a pretty high gas flow rate. Since you have several nozzles, and they are probably pretty big, I doubt the BBQ propane tank will be able to supply sufficient gas flow. And, after a short time the propane tank will cool off and the pressure will drop.

You will need to significantly decrease the nozzles' diameters and you need a safe way to ignite the thing.

I don't think there is anyway that you'll have enough force to get the thing to spin. Propane is only what, about 1/1000th the density of water so to get the same force with propane you'll have to be ejecting it at a very high velocity.

Demon · Wed Oct 08, 2008 1:32 pm

What do you think will happen?

You will probably light up evrything around it :blob6:

And i will stand 15 meters away of this thing, for safety's reason.

Lentamentalisk · Wed Oct 08, 2008 3:36 pm

jimmy101 wrote:A propane flame will be light blue and nearly invisible, even at night, if the air to fuel mixture is anywhere near correct.

Have any of you ever burnt propane? I can tell you for a fact that this is not the case in the least. First of all, did you see the video, that is not invisible at night (you can see it) but it is during the day. Here is another video of its not so well mixed combustion: http://s229.photobucket.com/albums/ee58 ... CT4287.flv

That is very far from invisible...

I guarantee you the flame will be visible at night.

Not to say that you should ever do anything like this, as it would be suicidal to leave unattended, and would empty your fuel tank in minutes. Yes, I know you are going to be using a BBQ tank. That is what I am using in both the videos. That doesn't mean it will have a regulator. That is on the hose side. I have also tried this with a hose with a regulator on it, and you get a little wimpy several inch long laminar candle flame, not the raging fireball that I made.

jimmy101 · Wed Oct 08, 2008 3:59 pm

Lentamentalisk wrote:
jimmy101 wrote:A propane flame will be light blue and nearly invisible, even at night, if the air to fuel mixture is anywhere near correct.
Have any of you ever burnt propane? I can tell you for a fact that this is not the case in the least. First of all, did you see the video, that is not invisible at night (you can see it) but it is during the day. Here is another video of its not so well mixed combustion: http://s229.photobucket.com/albums/ee58 ... CT4287.flv

That is very far from invisible...

I guarantee you the flame will be visible at night.

Not to say that you should ever do anything like this, as it would be suicidal to leave unattended, and would empty your fuel tank in minutes. Yes, I know you are going to be using a BBQ tank. That is what I am using in both the videos. That doesn't mean it will have a regulator. That is on the hose side. I have also tried this with a hose with a regulator on it, and you get a little wimpy several inch long laminar candle flame, not the raging fireball that I made.

Lenta, yes indeed I have observed many propane flames, probably numbering in the thousands. And, like I said, if the mixture is correct it'll be nearly invisible in the daytime and not very bright at night.

The flame you videoed is not burning with the correct mixture. So, just like I said, it is very visible. That's what you get when you dump a flammable gas straight into air without any type of an air mixer.

Propane torches, bunsen burners, gas furnaces etc. are all designed to mix the proper amount of air with the flame and they all give a faint blue flame. The flame is visible at night but hardly impresive. The flame is nearly invisible in sunlight.

The other thing a rich fuel ratio does is produce soot. Indeed, it's the soot in the flame that produces the orange and yellow colors. The flame you videoed is putting out a ton of soot.

So you can't tell me anything "as a fact", since you clearly didn't actually read my post to start with.

mark.f · Wed Oct 08, 2008 4:04 pm

Lementalisk, if the fuel/air ratio is correct, the flame IS very hard to see. Me and my friend were goofing off with pulsejets a few months ago, and you could barely see the flame at night when we finally got the thing running.

Your videos depict a bad propane/air mix.

Lentamentalisk · Wed Oct 08, 2008 4:06 pm

Well ok, a perfect mix will be practically invisible, agreed. That however is not what he was planning on doing. I guess I was arguing from a more practical standpoint than theoretical. His flames will show up, as he will just be dumping fuel into the atmosphere.

Sorry, I didn't mean to call you stupid, because I know that most perfectly mixed fuels burn rather hard to see, but in practice, it tends not to be the case. Ex: a blow torch is quite visible at night.

mark.f · Wed Oct 08, 2008 4:15 pm

But definitely not in the daytime, as I found out rather difficultly.

mrbadexample · Wed Oct 08, 2008 4:34 pm

i was helping my dad's neighbor a little while ago replace a valve in his garage for his anti-freeze hose tap. i could see the flame from the torch in the dim, but the neighbor couldn't.

i have "new" bionic eyes (experimental lens implants) and see quite well in most lighting conditions (20/16). the neighbor would turn up the gas too much and it would blow itself out! (it was my spud gun gas, i keep it under the driver's seat of my car, for handy spudding, and wasn't too keen on him wasting about 700 shots worth of my propane to wiggle out his freeze valve)

ammosmoke · Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:48 am

You have BIONIC EYES???? REALLY??? Did you get paid to have them?

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