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| | | Fire! |  | As I experiment with the flammable properties of propane.
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Fifth Test
9/22/2006 8:13 PM
 The same as the fourth test but we added in an accumulator tank (an old style propane tank with a T-fitting in the top; ~6 square feet of volume, an order of magnitude larger than the volume of the tubing). Now it works AWESOME! After waiting a bit to let the accumulator pressurize (we could tell when it getting up to pressure because the leaks would get louder) we would open the ball valve and a huge jet (about ten feet tall) of fire would launch itself into the sky. We had to play around with this for some time. It was loud enough that my across-the-alley neighbors (and their guests) came out for the show. The young girls were, I think, equally impressed and concerned for our safety. I reassured them that safety was among our top concerns. Within the top five, at least.
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10' Fireball
Fourth Test
9/22/2006 7:57 PM
 I soldered together a dual control valve (see second picture). It's just two valves in parallel: a normal shut-off valve and a quarter-turn ball valve. The idea is to put this dual valve in the propane line. With the ball valve closed, open the regular valve a little bit and light the propane - this constitutes the pilot light. Then, when you open the ball valve, all 60psi of the propane rushes out creating a larger jet of flame. This worked just fine but an interesting thing also happened: There is a ~20' of 3/8" i.d. tubing between the regulator and the dual control valve resulting in a volume of ~80 cubic inches. Since the pilot valve is only allowing a few psi of pressue out the nozzle the pressure difference is taking up residence in that tubing which, in effects, acts as an accumulator. So as soon as the ball valve is opened we would get a moderately sized fireball that lasted half a second before the regular jet of fire took its place. This inspired me to add an acumulator and move directly to test number five. |
Dual Control Valve
Fireball
Third Test
9/13/2006 9:21 PM
 For this test I bought a few bits of copper fittings from the hardware store and set to soldering. This attachment has four 18" lengths of 3/8" copper each at ninety degree angles to one another. Each rod has five 1/8" holes drilled along one of the sides. The pictures demonstrate this nicely. Another success.
For the next test I want to built a proper stand for these things and devise some sort of air-tight bearing so that the four-rod "nozzle" will spin!
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test_3-1
test_3_logan
Second Test
9/13/2006 9:19 PM
 A high pressure (30-60psi) regulator and ten feet of copper pipe. A little more dangerous, perhaps, but successful.
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First Test
9/13/2006 9:17 PM
 I bought some propane and propane accessories today. After it got a
little darker my brother and I connected some random bits together to
test out some very rudimentary flame effects. Surprisingly, we didn't blow ourselves up. Fire came out the end of the hose and everything worked about as well as I had expected.
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fire_4_4
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The same as the fourth test but we added in an accumulator tank (an old style propane tank with a T-fitting in the top; ~6 square feet of volume, an order of magnitude larger than the volume of the tubing). Now it works AWESOME! After waiting a bit to let the accumulator pressurize (we could tell when it getting up to pressure because the leaks would get louder) we would open the ball valve and a huge jet (about ten feet tall) of fire would launch itself into the sky. We had to play around with this for some time. It was loud enough that my across-the-alley neighbors (and their guests) came out for the show. The young girls were, I think, equally impressed and concerned for our safety. I reassured them that safety was among our top concerns. Within the top five, at least.
I soldered together a dual control valve (see second picture). It's just two valves in parallel: a normal shut-off valve and a quarter-turn ball valve. The idea is to put this dual valve in the propane line. With the ball valve closed, open the regular valve a little bit and light the propane - this constitutes the pilot light. Then, when you open the ball valve, all 60psi of the propane rushes out creating a larger jet of flame. This worked just fine but an interesting thing also happened: There is a ~20' of 3/8" i.d. tubing between the regulator and the dual control valve resulting in a volume of ~80 cubic inches. Since the pilot valve is only allowing a few psi of pressue out the nozzle the pressure difference is taking up residence in that tubing which, in effects, acts as an accumulator. So as soon as the ball valve is opened we would get a moderately sized fireball that lasted half a second before the regular jet of fire took its place. This inspired me to add an acumulator and move directly to test number five.
For this test I bought a few bits of copper fittings from the hardware store and set to soldering. This attachment has four 18" lengths of 3/8" copper each at ninety degree angles to one another. Each rod has five 1/8" holes drilled along one of the sides. The pictures demonstrate this nicely. Another success. 
A high pressure (30-60psi) regulator and ten feet of copper pipe. A little more dangerous, perhaps, but successful.
I bought some propane and propane accessories today. After it got a
little darker my brother and I connected some random bits together to
test out some very rudimentary flame effects. Surprisingly, we didn't blow ourselves up. Fire came out the end of the hose and everything worked about as well as I had expected.