richardandtracy
Well-Known Member
He He.
Disposing of old petrol
- Thread starter beancounter
- Start date
DaveS
Well-Known Member
Town gas - mainly hydrogen. It allowed all sorts of possibilities.
I inadvertantly triggered a larger scale version of your can experiment when laying a lit banger on top of a manhole lid. There was an enormous blue flash and I lost my eyebrows (and was very lucky not to lose my head) as the iron lid shot about 15 feet into the air. Ten minutes later another lid at the end of the street blew off, followed a few seconds later by another one at the end of the street at right angles. Ten minutes after that a fourth lid went up in the air. The flame front was obviously burning down the gas filled pipes and exploding the gas air mix in the manhole chambers.
[To clarify, having re-read this: the manholes and ducts were GPO containing telephone wires. Gas from a leaking main had got into them.]
On a smaller scale, and deliberate this time, a rubber hose from the gas tap into a bowl of soap suds created lighter than air bubbles which rose to the ceiling or, if a match was put to them, became spectacular but completely silent fireballs.
I inadvertantly triggered a larger scale version of your can experiment when laying a lit banger on top of a manhole lid. There was an enormous blue flash and I lost my eyebrows (and was very lucky not to lose my head) as the iron lid shot about 15 feet into the air. Ten minutes later another lid at the end of the street blew off, followed a few seconds later by another one at the end of the street at right angles. Ten minutes after that a fourth lid went up in the air. The flame front was obviously burning down the gas filled pipes and exploding the gas air mix in the manhole chambers.
[To clarify, having re-read this: the manholes and ducts were GPO containing telephone wires. Gas from a leaking main had got into them.]
On a smaller scale, and deliberate this time, a rubber hose from the gas tap into a bowl of soap suds created lighter than air bubbles which rose to the ceiling or, if a match was put to them, became spectacular but completely silent fireballs.
richardandtracy
Well-Known Member
/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Absolutely brilliant. Wish I'd seen that. [Where's my hanky? I need to wipe my eyes.]
Regards
Richard.
Absolutely brilliant. Wish I'd seen that. [Where's my hanky? I need to wipe my eyes.]
Regards
Richard.
G
Guest
Guest
[ QUOTE ]
Town gas - mainly hydrogen. It allowed all sorts of possibilities.
I inadvertantly triggered a larger scale version of your can experiment when laying a lit banger on top of a manhole lid. There was an enormous blue flash and I lost my eyebrows (and was very lucky not to lose my head) as the iron lid shot about 15 feet into the air. Ten minutes later another lid at the end of the street blew off, followed a few seconds later by another one at the end of the street at right angles. Ten minutes after that a fourth lid went up in the air. The flame front was obviously burning down the gas filled pipes and exploding the gas air mix in the manhole chambers.
On a smaller scale, and deliberate this time, a rubber hose from the gas tap into a bowl of soap suds created lighter than air bubbles which rose to the ceiling or, if a match was put to them, became spectacular but completely silent fireballs.
[/ QUOTE ]
The manhole lid job can also be done with sewer drains ... the contents produce methane ... as well as the usual pong of course ... but given sufficiently rich surroundings and use of facilities .........
Town gas - mainly hydrogen. It allowed all sorts of possibilities.
I inadvertantly triggered a larger scale version of your can experiment when laying a lit banger on top of a manhole lid. There was an enormous blue flash and I lost my eyebrows (and was very lucky not to lose my head) as the iron lid shot about 15 feet into the air. Ten minutes later another lid at the end of the street blew off, followed a few seconds later by another one at the end of the street at right angles. Ten minutes after that a fourth lid went up in the air. The flame front was obviously burning down the gas filled pipes and exploding the gas air mix in the manhole chambers.
On a smaller scale, and deliberate this time, a rubber hose from the gas tap into a bowl of soap suds created lighter than air bubbles which rose to the ceiling or, if a match was put to them, became spectacular but completely silent fireballs.
[/ QUOTE ]
The manhole lid job can also be done with sewer drains ... the contents produce methane ... as well as the usual pong of course ... but given sufficiently rich surroundings and use of facilities .........
Twister_Ken
Well-Known Member
Better still, I was an army cadet in Hampshire, and we had a glorious week at annual camp blowing up bits of the then redundant Longmoor Military Railway.
The fun was not to completely demolish something, but to try and use minimum explosive to dismantle things in such a way as to leave big enough bits for futher explosions.
The fun was not to completely demolish something, but to try and use minimum explosive to dismantle things in such a way as to leave big enough bits for futher explosions.
duncanmack
Well-Known Member
Up until comparatively recently, Mercedes advised putting 1 gallon of petrol in 10 gallons of diesel for winter use.
With the advent of the modern "common rail" diesel engine it isn't reccomended it any more - it f***s the fuel pump.
So, if you have a pre common rail diesel just chuck the old petrol in the tank.
With the advent of the modern "common rail" diesel engine it isn't reccomended it any more - it f***s the fuel pump.
So, if you have a pre common rail diesel just chuck the old petrol in the tank.
ccscott49
Well-Known Member
You blew up the longmoor railway! swine! I used to go to work on that railway, when I was at SEME Bordon! The station and train at Bordon was in a scene from a morcambe and wise film, set in Mexico I think!
Rowana
Two steps lower than the ships' cat
Re: Ohmigawd.....
[ QUOTE ]
... a perfectly innocent post has brought a bunch of would-be Guy Fawkes' out of the closet. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
[/ QUOTE ]
So far, he's the only man to go into westminster with the right idea . . . .
[ QUOTE ]
... a perfectly innocent post has brought a bunch of would-be Guy Fawkes' out of the closet. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
[/ QUOTE ]
So far, he's the only man to go into westminster with the right idea . . . .
tangofour
Well-Known Member
Sorry completely off topic but all the above reminded me of something.
Thirty something years ago I was at a school on the banks of a river in South Africa. I was a science lab 'monitor' ie I had the keys to the science classroom. Long story short, some mates and I 'nationalised in the spirit of greater understanding' one complete and unbroken slug of pure Sodium. The metal was carefully wrapped in several layers of foolscap paper drenched in parafin and closed up to resemble a Christmas cracker.
Down to the riverbank with the contraband we went. After a few minutes of discussion it was decided that the threat of burns from trying to unwrap the package were too great and that the best course of action was to dispose of the material in one single 'experiment'.
The package arched high above the river and dropped in making a small splash. Bitter dissapointment! We were expecting something more than the pop and fizzle demonstrated by the science master a few weeks earlier. A discussion started about what had gone wrong whilst at the bottom of the river the water was slowly making its way through the parafin wrapped packaging.
Perhaps 2 or 3 minutes after the small splash the water finally made contact with the Sodium. What followed delights me to this day. There were 3 what I can only describe as shockwaves. Massive compressions of the air that knocked us flat on aour backsides. The river opened up to the riverbed, a hole perhaps 10 metres in diameter and 2 metres deep out of which climbed a fireball of epic proportions. It was accompanied by a surrounding 'curtain' of zig zig tracers of white smoke trails for all the world like those seen following a nuclear detonation. The fireball and accompanying smoke climbed into the sky, rolling in on itself, a schoolboy fantasy. Several of the river facing windows on 3 prefab classrooms overlooking the river needed replacing. Pupils were asking everyone if they had heard the explosion for days afterwards. Our stock answer was that we had been in the prep hall doing homework. For weeks afterward , dead fish were washing up on the riverbanks.
The spectacle was only ever exceeded by witnessing a full 55000 liter petrol tanker that had been involved in an accident with a taxi near Fourways turn into a fireball that was seen from 20 km away.
Ah! School days in Africa before Health and Safety was invented. How the hell did we survive?
Thirty something years ago I was at a school on the banks of a river in South Africa. I was a science lab 'monitor' ie I had the keys to the science classroom. Long story short, some mates and I 'nationalised in the spirit of greater understanding' one complete and unbroken slug of pure Sodium. The metal was carefully wrapped in several layers of foolscap paper drenched in parafin and closed up to resemble a Christmas cracker.
Down to the riverbank with the contraband we went. After a few minutes of discussion it was decided that the threat of burns from trying to unwrap the package were too great and that the best course of action was to dispose of the material in one single 'experiment'.
The package arched high above the river and dropped in making a small splash. Bitter dissapointment! We were expecting something more than the pop and fizzle demonstrated by the science master a few weeks earlier. A discussion started about what had gone wrong whilst at the bottom of the river the water was slowly making its way through the parafin wrapped packaging.
Perhaps 2 or 3 minutes after the small splash the water finally made contact with the Sodium. What followed delights me to this day. There were 3 what I can only describe as shockwaves. Massive compressions of the air that knocked us flat on aour backsides. The river opened up to the riverbed, a hole perhaps 10 metres in diameter and 2 metres deep out of which climbed a fireball of epic proportions. It was accompanied by a surrounding 'curtain' of zig zig tracers of white smoke trails for all the world like those seen following a nuclear detonation. The fireball and accompanying smoke climbed into the sky, rolling in on itself, a schoolboy fantasy. Several of the river facing windows on 3 prefab classrooms overlooking the river needed replacing. Pupils were asking everyone if they had heard the explosion for days afterwards. Our stock answer was that we had been in the prep hall doing homework. For weeks afterward , dead fish were washing up on the riverbanks.
The spectacle was only ever exceeded by witnessing a full 55000 liter petrol tanker that had been involved in an accident with a taxi near Fourways turn into a fireball that was seen from 20 km away.
Ah! School days in Africa before Health and Safety was invented. How the hell did we survive?
SpecialBranch
Well-Known Member
That reminds me of a demo in the States of a BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Evaporative Explosion).
A 10kg LPG cylinder was placed on heap of railway sleepers, which were lit. We retreated well over mile away and watched and waited and waited...
"The LPG inside the container will absorb the heat energy until such times as the temperature of the gas liquid is such that it allows the wall of the cylinder to melt. At which point the gas will escape as a super-heated vapour; this will explode driving the cylinder in an indeterminate direction, probably bouncing off the grpound and into the air."
and waited...
We saw the explosion, and a few seconds later heard the sound and felt the two pressure waves. The cylinder itself arced through the sky away from us. The demo concluded when we tracked the distance from the burn site to the landing site - over 800 yards.
The record for a BLEVE is a large propane tank (the sort of size you see in ports and industrial areas AND towns all over the UK. The official safety zone is 1500 metres.
So when you come to sell your house and make all the declarations under the new House Selling plan, don't forget to tell the prospective purchasers that they are within range of a local missile factory !
And, yes, these are the nice little red and blue cyclinders we have on board our boats. Ho Hum !
A 10kg LPG cylinder was placed on heap of railway sleepers, which were lit. We retreated well over mile away and watched and waited and waited...
"The LPG inside the container will absorb the heat energy until such times as the temperature of the gas liquid is such that it allows the wall of the cylinder to melt. At which point the gas will escape as a super-heated vapour; this will explode driving the cylinder in an indeterminate direction, probably bouncing off the grpound and into the air."
and waited...
We saw the explosion, and a few seconds later heard the sound and felt the two pressure waves. The cylinder itself arced through the sky away from us. The demo concluded when we tracked the distance from the burn site to the landing site - over 800 yards.
The record for a BLEVE is a large propane tank (the sort of size you see in ports and industrial areas AND towns all over the UK. The official safety zone is 1500 metres.
So when you come to sell your house and make all the declarations under the new House Selling plan, don't forget to tell the prospective purchasers that they are within range of a local missile factory !
And, yes, these are the nice little red and blue cyclinders we have on board our boats. Ho Hum !
G
Guest
Guest
Terrible tales ....
Hazlewick School ... was my "prison" ......
One day in Chemistry - we were let lose with acetone, elephant syringes and various other bits and bobs. In those days Bunsen Burners remained on desk ...
So Me being the School trouble maker .... decided to play Flame Thrower ... loaded up a syringe with acetone - squirted it through bunsen flame ... Wall caught light and we were all bundled out to playing field while Fire was put out.
I was banned from Chemistry .... parents called in etc. etc. Few months later I "pleaded" to be let back into Chemistry - as it made up my list of O Level subjects ... It was then that I found out why I wasn't more severely punished.
The chem lab was built as fire-proof - I proved it wrong ... school had then a problem with safety on its labs and had to strip and re-finish - of course at builders expense. So they had a problem with how to deal with me - having brought to light (sorry about the joke there !!) a serious problem ....
I have to admit though - nothing as spectacular as dumping sodium into lake !
We'd done Railway detonators into lakes, under bike shed slabs etc. and then dropped bricks - boulders etc. onto them - incredibly hard to set of !! But when they do !!
Mate and I used to take metal pipe and make canons ... hammered end closed ... drill small hole an inch from end ... nail to a block of wood ... ball bearings and fireworks + wadding ... Great fun ! Boy did they make a bang when hitting metal garage doors ...
Hazlewick School ... was my "prison" ......
One day in Chemistry - we were let lose with acetone, elephant syringes and various other bits and bobs. In those days Bunsen Burners remained on desk ...
So Me being the School trouble maker .... decided to play Flame Thrower ... loaded up a syringe with acetone - squirted it through bunsen flame ... Wall caught light and we were all bundled out to playing field while Fire was put out.
I was banned from Chemistry .... parents called in etc. etc. Few months later I "pleaded" to be let back into Chemistry - as it made up my list of O Level subjects ... It was then that I found out why I wasn't more severely punished.
The chem lab was built as fire-proof - I proved it wrong ... school had then a problem with safety on its labs and had to strip and re-finish - of course at builders expense. So they had a problem with how to deal with me - having brought to light (sorry about the joke there !!) a serious problem ....
I have to admit though - nothing as spectacular as dumping sodium into lake !
We'd done Railway detonators into lakes, under bike shed slabs etc. and then dropped bricks - boulders etc. onto them - incredibly hard to set of !! But when they do !!
Mate and I used to take metal pipe and make canons ... hammered end closed ... drill small hole an inch from end ... nail to a block of wood ... ball bearings and fireworks + wadding ... Great fun ! Boy did they make a bang when hitting metal garage doors ...
DaveS
Well-Known Member
Re: Terrible tales ....
Ah, banger guns...
I favoured a length of 5/8 conduit, one end filled with 3" of earth and closed over, lashed to toy pop gun to give a good butt. Tuppeny banger down tube followed by rowan berry previously selected as good fit. (By happy chance rowans were in berry when bangers appeared in the shops.) Effective range around 1/2 mile...
My pal Jim claimed to have made a breech loading version, but I never saw it.
Ah, banger guns...
I favoured a length of 5/8 conduit, one end filled with 3" of earth and closed over, lashed to toy pop gun to give a good butt. Tuppeny banger down tube followed by rowan berry previously selected as good fit. (By happy chance rowans were in berry when bangers appeared in the shops.) Effective range around 1/2 mile...
My pal Jim claimed to have made a breech loading version, but I never saw it.
G
Guest
Guest
Re: Terrible tales ....
[ QUOTE ]
Ah, banger guns...
I favoured a length of 5/8 conduit, one end filled with 3" of earth and closed over, lashed to toy pop gun to give a good butt. Tuppeny banger down tube followed by rowan berry previously selected as good fit. (By happy chance rowans were in berry when bangers appeared in the shops.) Effective range around 1/2 mile...
My pal Jim claimed to have made a breech loading version, but I never saw it.
[/ QUOTE ]
We used to break open the fireworks - could even create a "display" when let off ... by choosing fireworks ...
We'd pour a good measure of powder into tube ... ram a ball bearing in ... then a wad of tissue .... make sure hole was clear to light ... BHAM !
Remember when one split ... cr*p everywhere ! My mate had black dots all over his face for days after ...
He was also the guy who got hold of a field telephone genny !! His trick was to put a coin in the water .... have two leads in ... he'd get someone to "fish out the coin" ... give a good wind to the handle .... boy it made your arm jump !
[ QUOTE ]
Ah, banger guns...
I favoured a length of 5/8 conduit, one end filled with 3" of earth and closed over, lashed to toy pop gun to give a good butt. Tuppeny banger down tube followed by rowan berry previously selected as good fit. (By happy chance rowans were in berry when bangers appeared in the shops.) Effective range around 1/2 mile...
My pal Jim claimed to have made a breech loading version, but I never saw it.
[/ QUOTE ]
We used to break open the fireworks - could even create a "display" when let off ... by choosing fireworks ...
We'd pour a good measure of powder into tube ... ram a ball bearing in ... then a wad of tissue .... make sure hole was clear to light ... BHAM !
Remember when one split ... cr*p everywhere ! My mate had black dots all over his face for days after ...
He was also the guy who got hold of a field telephone genny !! His trick was to put a coin in the water .... have two leads in ... he'd get someone to "fish out the coin" ... give a good wind to the handle .... boy it made your arm jump !
VicS
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
I remember from school science lesson the teacher making a gas bomb...........Can you imagine science masters being allowed to demonstrate that today?
[/ QUOTE ]
No problems. We were still doing it 7 years ago and I am not aware of any reason why it should not be done today. A good lab technician will set it up behind a safety screen and will know to within a second or two how long it takes for it to go bang. Natural gas is still lighter than air (wont work with lpg though). Works best if the hole in the bottom is a bit bigger than the hole in the top. We were a bit cautious and only used a treacle tin.
Another good one we did was to fill a small (100ml or so) stout plastic bottle with 1/3 natuaral gas and 2/3 oxygen, place it on its side on a suitable support. remove the bung in the neck and apply a lighted splint. Instant big bang and the bottle hits the wall at the far side of the lab. (Best not aimed at the kids).
One (inexperieced) Chemistry master was persuaded by his class to set light to one of those metal pencil sharpeners! I knew from the cheer that something pretty spectacular happened.
Demonstrating chip pan fires and what happens if you try to extiguish them with water was a bit too messy!
Only seen it on video but the reaction between caesium and water is pretty spectacular. You may remember that lithium is fairly gentle, sodium is more vigorous but reasonable if you only use a small piece, potassium is even more vigorous and usually catches fire, rubidium is quite violent and caesium really goes with a bang!
I remember from school science lesson the teacher making a gas bomb...........Can you imagine science masters being allowed to demonstrate that today?
[/ QUOTE ]
No problems. We were still doing it 7 years ago and I am not aware of any reason why it should not be done today. A good lab technician will set it up behind a safety screen and will know to within a second or two how long it takes for it to go bang. Natural gas is still lighter than air (wont work with lpg though). Works best if the hole in the bottom is a bit bigger than the hole in the top. We were a bit cautious and only used a treacle tin.
Another good one we did was to fill a small (100ml or so) stout plastic bottle with 1/3 natuaral gas and 2/3 oxygen, place it on its side on a suitable support. remove the bung in the neck and apply a lighted splint. Instant big bang and the bottle hits the wall at the far side of the lab. (Best not aimed at the kids).
One (inexperieced) Chemistry master was persuaded by his class to set light to one of those metal pencil sharpeners! I knew from the cheer that something pretty spectacular happened.
Demonstrating chip pan fires and what happens if you try to extiguish them with water was a bit too messy!
Only seen it on video but the reaction between caesium and water is pretty spectacular. You may remember that lithium is fairly gentle, sodium is more vigorous but reasonable if you only use a small piece, potassium is even more vigorous and usually catches fire, rubidium is quite violent and caesium really goes with a bang!
VicS
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
Now, what I want to know is how we can legally make explosive to play with in small quantities at home
[/ QUOTE ] It is illegal to make gunpowder but as far as I am aware that is the only one.
Now, what I want to know is how we can legally make explosive to play with in small quantities at home
[/ QUOTE ] It is illegal to make gunpowder but as far as I am aware that is the only one.
richardabeattie
Well-Known Member
Give it to the Royal Marines - they'll drink anything. Waho Mahommed!
PeterGibbs
Well-Known Member
The power and heat of even a small amount of petrol ignited is something to experience - or not! Having done it, once, I most strongly advise against.
All petrol stations are required to have an overflow drain and, I have found, with permission you can pour the fuel down their drain.
PWG
All petrol stations are required to have an overflow drain and, I have found, with permission you can pour the fuel down their drain.
PWG
Bodach na mara
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
It is illegal to make gunpowder but as far as I am aware that is the only one.
[/ QUOTE ]
Is it? Oh dear, nobody told me.
It is illegal to make gunpowder but as far as I am aware that is the only one.
[/ QUOTE ]
Is it? Oh dear, nobody told me.
Major Catastrophe
Well-Known Member
Whilst all the others make complicated and potentially dangerous suggestion on how to dispose of two gallons of old petrol the best, tried and tested method is to 'accidentally' leave the can in the cockpit of your boat, near the marina gate or with all the other stuff that accumulates around the boats on the hard and after a refreshing cup of tea in the cafe. By the time you go back to recover your 'lost' can, it will be someone elses problem - except he won't know it is old/leaded fuel. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
cliffordpope
Well-Known Member
It seems a shame to waste it. I'd just lose it in a lawnmower.
But if you want some fun, put it in a sealed plastic 5 litre oil can and hurl it into a good bonfire.
Don't tell Nanny.
But if you want some fun, put it in a sealed plastic 5 litre oil can and hurl it into a good bonfire.
Don't tell Nanny.
