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Who Knew Starch Will Burn...

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Posted by ccltrains on Saturday, October 23, 2021 10:18 AM

I was in the upstream end of the oil and gas business.  Nothing to do with refining and sales.  Worked for a consulting company and my job was to estimate:

how much is there

how fast can it be produced

what is the cash flow for the O & G

retired in 2006 and at that time I had evaluated every field in the North Sea plus several fields in undesirable areas that I would not go back to due to the political situation.  I really enjoyed my job.  I did not consider it work but fun with a paycheck.

 

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, October 22, 2021 1:55 PM

ccltrains
I spent a summer surveying coal mines (with a transit).  The coal mine is white, not coal black.  The reason for this is that coal dust is very explosive and the walls are coated with powered lime stone (white color) to stop the potential for a coal dust explosion.  If the rock dusting crew had not gotten to an undusted face it would be covered with wet burlap. Even with all this protection when I got home my nose would blow black.  This is why I decided to not be a coal mole and went into the oil and gas business.

So in the oil & gas business it only blew 10w-30?

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by ccltrains on Friday, October 22, 2021 1:43 PM

I spent a summer surveying coal mines (with a transit).  The coal mine is white, not coal black.  The reason for this is that coal dust is very explosive and the walls are coated with powered lime stone (white color) to stop the potential for a coal dust explosion.  If the rock dusting crew had not gotten to an undusted face it would be covered with wet burlap. Even with all this protection when I got home my nose would blow black.  This is why I decided to not be a coal mole and went into the oil and gas business.

 

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, October 15, 2021 3:09 PM

tree68
 
Shadow the Cats owner
We just had a combine burn up near here. 

A few years ago we got called for a fire in a hay field.  It wasn't the entire field, it was the raked rows.  A stick got into the round baler and was dragging on the big rubber belt that rolls the hay, causing enough heat to light off the hay.  I think the baler itself survived.

Beausabre - A logical conclusion, to be sure.

Harvester -

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, October 15, 2021 11:23 AM

Shadow the Cats owner
We just had a combine burn up near here.

A few years ago we got called for a fire in a hay field.  It wasn't the entire field, it was the raked rows.  A stick got into the round baler and was dragging on the big rubber belt that rolls the hay, causing enough heat to light off the hay.  I think the baler itself survived.

Beausabre - A logical conclusion, to be sure.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by BEAUSABRE on Friday, October 15, 2021 8:11 AM

When you said "combine" I pictured a half coach-half baggage railroad car

Silly me

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Posted by Shadow the Cats owner on Thursday, October 14, 2021 9:02 PM

We just had a combine burn up near here.  Hot bearing on a chopper shaft and bean stalk dust combined with lots of airflow.  Freaking thing went up faster than a stack of kindling.  Farmer was able to bailout with no injuries and no damage to his field however the combine became a puddle of molten metal in his field.  

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Posted by cefinkjr on Thursday, October 14, 2021 2:27 PM

BEAUSABRE
The reaction, also called the Goldschmidt process, is used for thermite welding, often used to join railway tracks.

I saw an MoW gang field-welding rail one time.  It looked like a minature volcano!  I was surprised at how long it took to weld the two pieces of rail and then how quickly it cooled enough to work with the rail.

Chuck
Allen, TX

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 8:53 AM

BEAUSABRE
Do you know that iron burns?

Oh, yeah - I think I've set steel wool on fire.  I'm quite familiar with the phenomenon.  The fuel-air mixture is everything.  LEL, UEL, etc.  I've thrown matches into a coffee can with gasoline in it, only to have them go out...

Interesting on the thermite.  I know it exists, but wasn't aware of the make-up.  That does explain why they light it the way they do.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by BEAUSABRE on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 1:23 AM

Tree68, The critical item is the ratio of surface area (exposed to oxidant) to mass of the item

Do you know that iron burns? We all know that a solid piece of iron exposed to the air rusts. This is ssssslllloooowwww oxidation. Grind that iron up to powder and heat it in the presence of oxygen and you get RAPID oxidation, aka known as fire. Mix in aluminum powder and you get thermite which burns at 4,000 degrees F. 

"The reaction, also called the Goldschmidt process, is used for thermite welding, often used to join railway tracks."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermite#/media/File:Velp-thermitewelding-1.jpg

https://youtu.be/5uxsFglz2ig

https://youtu.be/rNjosF789X4

 

 

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, October 5, 2021 12:04 PM

Dust explosions have levelled a number of grain elevators, for that matter.  I'm familiar with the phenomenon.

The information shared has been informative.

I thought it was interesting that something most people think of as a way to put a crease on one's pants or as something in one's diet would cause such a spectacular incident.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by BEAUSABRE on Tuesday, October 5, 2021 1:44 AM

Look up Fuel-Air Explosive or Thermobaric Munition - been in use by the military for decades

Thermobaric weapon - Wikipedia

"Thermobaric xplosives apply the principles underlying accidental unconfined vapor cloud explosions, which include those from dispersions of flammable dusts and droplets.[4] Previously, such dust explosions were most often encountered in flour mills and their storage containers, and later in coal mines; but, now, most commonly in partially or fully empty oil tankers and refinery tanks and vessels, including an incident at Buncefield in the UK in 2005 where the blast wave woke people 150 kilometres (93 mi) from its centre.[5]"

Dust explosion - Wikipedia

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Posted by SALfan1 on Friday, October 1, 2021 9:11 PM

Duplicated another post.

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, October 1, 2021 8:51 PM

caldreamer
Sugar dust is explosive as well.  A sugar plant in Louisian exploded killing some employees and destroying the plant.

A decade or so ago a sugar plant in Port Wentworth, GA exploded killing serveral - the cause was tracked to a overheating conveyor motor.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, October 1, 2021 8:25 PM

Well that's one way of clearing the tracks!

By the way, it may very well have been a coal dust explosion that sank the "Lusitania," more so than the German torpedo.

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Posted by caldreamer on Friday, October 1, 2021 8:21 PM

Sugar dust is explosive as well.  A sugar plant in Louisian exploded killing some employees and destroying the plant.

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Posted by Juniata Man on Friday, October 1, 2021 7:00 PM

Every time i see video like this, I wonder if anyone thought to instead use their phone to call the 800 number on the blue sign and report the stall.

CW

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Posted by SD70Dude on Friday, October 1, 2021 6:48 PM

Just like coal or grain dust explosions, how many silos or elevators have been lost over the years?

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by rdamon on Friday, October 1, 2021 5:31 PM

It is all about the perfect starch to air ratio (SAR).  Geeked

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Who Knew Starch Will Burn...
Posted by tree68 on Friday, October 1, 2021 5:20 PM

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

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