Equipment: Homemade Gas Burners

[@Jeffrey_Wong]

The way Doug describes himself as a kid makes me think he and I would've been really good friends if we were in grade school together

[@awaitingthetrumpetcall4529]

Thanks for the education. I was trying to understand the common component between a waste oil burner, a rocket stove and a Bunsen burner. They all have a 'tall' combustion chamber where the fuel and air have time to mix and thus burn more completely. I'm glad you explained how that large air inlet works. I wondered why the flame appeared at the top of the tube as opposed to shooting out of the inlet itself. The heat of the flame draws the air in. I'm not going to build a prototype but I will try to create a CAD illustration of a DIY steam turbine that generates 12V or 24V. The turbine would be a basic water-wheel type turbine surrounded by a skirt to deflect the steam. The turbine would power an alternator to charge a bank of batteries.

[@Max_Chooch]

Inspired by your video I decided to attempt my own. I mistakenly followed them too well because I chose a different gas and your design is for Natural Gas. I discovered that if you're attempting to do this with Propane, your hole needs to be significantly smaller than 1/8th of an inch.

[@brandonmesias2301]

How big of a hole did you end up using?? I tried doing it but I see 1/8th is too big

[@CollegeChemistry]

Doug, why do you do this? You leave for however long and you just come back into my life with all these amazing videos.... okay you're forgiven.

[@aga5897]

Cool ! I'd never even heard of a flaring burner before.

[@bpark10001]

When you use it as a flaring burner, you need smaller gas orifice, and greater pressure feeding it. It is evident that with the small hose barb/hose, the burner can't uptake enough air (or cyanide/hazardous gas) to run properly. Try using a 3/32" orifice instead of 1/8" and opening valve further to increase venturi effect. You also need pipe dope/teflon tape on all of the threads on the bottom tee. You don't want gas leak there!

[@rowannyooom6958]

During at-home learning (it was the summer between my 8th grade year and my 9th grade year, I think), I made a hydrogen genorator/blowtorch. It's not quite done and I wouldn't be suprised if it melts the first time I fire it up, but it's what got me into chemistry. It's good to know I'm not the only child to do/make potentially dangerous experiments! So congradulations, you've gained my sub!

[@SuperAngelofglory]

Awesome. Bunsen burners are quite expensive here, so this is a nice and useful tutorial

[@edgeeffect]

Saw something like this on "Applied Science" and wanted to have a go at making one... more encouragement from you now... must get to work. Your "when I was a kid" engineering is loads better than mine was ;)

[@pyromen321]

I'm loving these frequent uploads!!!

[@KowboyUSA]

Many years ago, somewhere along the line, I was fortunate enough to come into possession of a burner with a honeycombed catalyst plate on the top.

[@RaExpIn]

I've never thought about building a bunsen burner myself, but it's interesting to see. :)

[@astralchemistry8732]

Very nice! The cast iron would probably also hold up to direct intake of pure oxygen. And if not, then you've just lost a few dollars.

[@DougsLab]

Man, I love it when people give me dangerous ideas.

[@DanielSMatthews]

Some sort of water electrolysis burner with the H2 bubbling through acetone to add some colour to the flame would be handy (if that is safe?), you can go from H2 + air to a full oxyhydrogen burner to something even richer in O2. And what lab doesn't already have electricity and water?

[@TC-ge3pt]

Thank you current Doug for sharing and kid Doug for this practical design! C’mon you can’t take credit for the kid. =)

[@DougsLab]

Exploiting that child labor. Muahaha

[@arjunyg4655]

Hey Doug, what ever happened with that electric furnace? You indicated that there would be a part 2 ;)

[@petkotzvetkov6528]

I'm really glad that Doug is back!! One of the best videos on the Web!

[@DougsLab]

There shall be! I working up to something that I need that for. It will certainly be featured in the next few months.

[@nwoboecane]

@@DougsLab I looked for it and if you haven't had a chance, there are at least two people still interested! haha

[@Max_Chooch]

Fantastic explanation. Thank you.

[@cannagorilla]

Great design Doug. Thank you for the idea!

[@ColinRies]

In industry, flaring all kinds of side products is quite common though. Nice video :)

[@VoidHalo]

I'm not big on fluid dynamics, but I don't think it's the venturi effect that's responsible for sucking the air through the side of the T joint. I know the venturi effect is when a constriction in a pipe causes the flow to speed up. What seems to happen here is the gas moving through the pipe is at lower pressure than the outside air, because it's moving, allowing air to be pushed into the joint. I'm not sure what you'd call that. The bernoulli effect maybe. It doesn't really matter. I just like working things out. Or trying to. Love the channel btw. I really appreciate you taking the time to make these. Cheers.

[@purepk3rz4]

Love your videos!! So glad to see you back,, congratulations with everything. Love from the UK

[@kjpmi]

Hey. If that's galvanized pipe you want to remove the zinc first. Slowly dip the end piece (which comes in contact with flame) into concentrated hydrochloric acid. Rinse it off and dry it well. It'll immediately start rusting so have some fireproof spray paint ready and as soon as it's dry coat it with the fire paint.

[@kjpmi]

Or just don't use galvanized pipe in the first place.

[@ironhead65]

Vinegar works well to remove zinc of you feel so inclined

[@kjpmi]

Yeah, true.

[@stamasd8500]

You don't need to remove the zinc coating from the parts that don't get hot, such as the base and gas inlet. And for the upper portions that do get hot, just use black cast iron parts.

[@kjpmi]

stamasd yeah. That’s right. The rest of it will never get close to hot enough to form any zinc volatiles. And the end part in direct contact with the flame may or may not ever get hot enough but it could. Better safe than sorry, though.

[@jamesg1367]

The heavy base I really like. Your creation is great and I may very well build one; but I'd also need/want one that's more compact.

[@DougsLab]

Yes, that has posed a problem before. This design, although simple, is quite tall.

[@lajoswinkler]

Great little burner you've got there, nice work. If you want higher temperature and very uniform, wide flame, just cover the widest adapter with a steel mesh of appropriate density (experiment). That's the Méker burner and is really nice for heating up glass tubes for proper bending, and also for frying the shit out of analytical precipitates. :)

[@wesleyburnham7372]

excellent video, I'd love to hear more about your stands!

[@stamasd8500]

From the video they seem to be the same base plates with square end caps smashed through them, followed by 1/4"-to-1/4" female-female adapters, then a length of 1/4" pipe screwed in. And probably a small threaded hole drilled in the side of the F/F adapter with a screw to retain the pipe.

[@munazzasardar2622]

Please do a long lab tour.

[@StreuB1]

Nice and simple vid, Doug!! Thanks and happy Friday! I have a video request and its likely one that a lot of other people would like as well. Can you do a video that explains and possibly shows how to determine if one liquid is soluble in another liquid as well as how to determine if two liquids are miscible? This might help to explain what polar and nonpolar means as well as the other attributes that help you determine, before any analytical lab testing, if two liquids would even mix. I ask this because I want to determine if two liquids are soluble or miscible in each other. The test to actually do it will take considerable effort on my part so I would like to learn how to get an idea if its even possible "on paper" before I begin making parts to build a small test chamber (one of the liquids is a gas at STP) Thank you!!

[@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648]

Could one use a female-drive plug and thus be able to screw it into the floor flange and the tee fitting? Or, plug the end of a pipe nipple with high temperature epoxy or RTV silicone. I'd think that more secure that what was done here with the male drive plug.

[@bytergon]

Great video Doug, thanks for sharing these "smaller" prep videos. I'd never thought of making a burner before, so I'm gonna have a go. I have a lot of brass fittings laying around, so I'm thinking of using those to make mine. I see others have commented on your use of galvanized pipe but no one has suggested brass as a solution. Is that just of price issue or is there other reasons? I know the melting point is a lot lower than steel, but I can't see this being a problem, it's only the tip that's in close proximity to the flame and I could use steel or copper for this.

[@YPOC]

How about you build a Teclu-burner? I've always found them to be more useful and easier to handle than any other type of burner.

[@silveradoman298]

Cool video Doug. Can you explain why the flame doesn't back feed into the gas source and is the reason still true at low gas pressure?

[@bhupendradesai3402]

Nice u show two aro mark one is for gass n other is for air? Please reply.

[@bradgiffen7028]

Doug can this model be used to burn ethanol alcohol gas ? I need to use a burner like this inside where I don't r have a hood fan. Would you have an issue with a guy burning isopropyl inside or is the ethanol a better choice?

[@richardblanchard2743]

Can you do anything interesting with ammonium sulfate?

[@drinventions9742]

Very informative,, would the flaring burner work for disposal or neutralization of nitrogen dioxide

[@WineScrounger]

DR Inventions I don’t think so, unless you ran it through a catalytic converter.

[@hlakanipetros6670]

finally you back

[@mistertheguy3073]

Awesome! Thank you very much!

[@ironhead65]

What kind of hose is that? I believe Natural Gas can be corrosive to some plastics and I would like to purchase proper materials. Thanks! Great video, really enjoyed the quick targeted nature. Caused me to subscribe!

[@EdwardTriesToScience]

It looks like vinyl that has fiber in the tubing to strengthen it.

[@luisbeltran7422]

Is this is natural gas at low pressure?. But I didnt hear that anywhere on this video.

[@willowpine2604]

Does brass parts can hold well?

[@shonkysidewayssam6134]

Gonna make one...

[@jackmclane1826]

Nice DIY projects. But bunsen burners came up on ebay every now and then. I usually got them for 5 bucks and picked them up in the vincinity. It is hard to get to that range with hardware store parts. I still have a couple of them as backup and have stopped searching for them... This flaring burner is a different story, though.

[@SmexySkullZz]

how are you preventing flashback ?

[@MrCrazyChemist]

Are you still doing foundry and casting projects? found some on your old channel and would love to see an update

PLEASE! DOUG! Respond to me, for the sake of the culture of humanity! I KNOW you would love this too. I am looking for a program that visually simulates chemistry. It should allow me to drag and drop chemicals in containers, mix them, heat them and cool them. I already have found something like it, but it's from 1999, missing a lot of stuff, crashes a lot and you need to pay for it. "Crocodile Chemistry", or the newer version which is basically the same thing, "Yenka". My question to you is, have you seen any program like this? I would love to have it, and I believe many, many others would, and a lot don't even know they'd want it. I know that if society gets a chemistry simulator, suddenly many more people will become interested, as they don't have to buy ingredients, look up reactions, stoichiometry, clean up the mess, buy the vials, etc. etc. etc.. SO! Thanks for reading. Attention-seeking caps and exclamation marks brought to you by my seriousness on this, and eagerness to have someone who's both involved with the public and deeply interested in chemistry also be aware of this.

[@Tycho343]

Can you explain why fuel-rich flame is used for burning toxic gases instead of oxygen-rich?

[@theekdunn]

I would guess convenience mostly. The decomposition temperature for hydrogen cyanide starts around 400C. Easily obtainable with a natural gas flame in air. Oxidation (burning) isn't strictly necessary for splitting hydrogen and cyanide, which can then be burned easily.

[@IsettasRock]

I'm performing reactions in precious metals refining & recovery that produces toxic nitrogen dioxide. I'm not cool with venting this to atmosphere. The flaring burner seems the perfect solution to get rid of this. How would the flaring burner work with NO2? thanks Doug!

[@stamasd8500]

I don't think using it for NO2 would be a great idea. NO2 will not decompose in a flame like that; if anything it would get oxidized to NO3 which is even more dangerous. You don't want nitric acid starting to condense from the air on every surface of your lab. And even less breathing it from the air.

[@IsettasRock]

That's kinda what I thought but figured I'd ask anyways. thanks

[@EdwardTriesToScience]

Bubble it through water to make dilute nitric which is good for cleaning.

[@jamesparker8529]

@@stamasd8500 NO3 isn't a thing. It would likely work, as it would oxidize the natural gas, and convert to nitrogen.

[@allenhonaker4107]

Hey Doug don't use galvanized. Welding galvanized can kill you. Use black iron or brass which can be brazed together.

[@gert2164]

How does your vacuum apparatus work? I've noticed you turn the water on whenever you use it, does the flow of the water somehow create the vacuum? Could be an interesting video! Alternatively, to anyone else here in the comments that is familiar with this sort of system, could you please enlighten me?

[@firstmkb]

Garrett Phillips I think is is an aspirator, which uses a Venturi from the water stream to create a low pressure area (vacuum). Pretty cheap on eBay. Someone recommended brass, but I don't remember why.

[@jhyland87]

Would be neat if you could add a thermal view of the burners as you used them (eg: 3:21) just a tip :-)

[@Rashadrus]

Make tube in tube - try, you`ll like it!

[@riccardoblaso8017]

A little rough... Have you got any ideas for the air reulation ring? The 2nd part of the video on the furnace?

[@WineScrounger]

Riccardo Blaso a plumbing-parts idea: if you used 15mm copper pipe for the barrel and bored out a 15mm butt joiner so it slid over, you could put a 10mm home in both. That would get you an adjustable air intake.

[@ozb2006]

thanks

[@carlric]

Genius!

[@nicktohzyu]

in the extension tube, since the fuel is already mixed with oxygen, why doesn't it combust in there and heat the pipe red hot?

[@hotlinkster123]

I believe it is because the upper flammability limit is exceeded, ie. the concentration of methane is too high

[@C-M-E]

I'm aware these are older videos, but knowledge of this caliber never goes out of style (or usefulness!) I only wish I'd seen this channel when it was active; the stuff kicking around now, all anyone is interested in is how to monetize content. Sigh...

[@alexandervangraff8475]

I miss you brother hh

[@3er24t4g1]

Can you make PCl3? Are you up to the challenge

[@jeanpierredaviau7478]

What kind of gas do you use?

[@kevinbyrne4538]

11:30 -- There's no Patreon link in the Description.

[@drysori]

Can you use Propane?

[@ScienceWithJames]

drysori I'd assume.

[@WineScrounger]

Yes, in fact I think you can get ready made Bunsen burners that fit to a camping gas cylinder. You need a smaller jet than for natural gas.

[@diao77723]

Please dont use galvanised steel! Look up 'Metal fume fever' better you seeing it than me trying to describe it

[@DocSquintz]

That only happens when you get towards welding temperatures and its not gonna kill you it just makes you sick

[@excitedbox5705]

Don't weld galvanized parts.

[@mrchangcooler]

Why wouldn't you just bubble toxic gasses like hydrogen cyanide through a solution to neutralize it rather than burn it?

[@Tom-yc8jv]

Instead of smashing the pipe plug through the top of the floor flang, why not just go through the bottom of it??? No smashing or grinding needed.....

[@stamasd8500]

Or a quick pass with a grinder to remove the protruding edges of the square part. However, smashing/welding should be OK also, it's not like you need those parts to be disassembled from each other.

[@metallitech]

Farting burner.

[@timvanwagoner6916]

Lol how old is this video? It's like $6 bucks just for the little square plug the jet hole is in.. it's $8 or 10 for a tee. That burner is going to run 50 or 60 bucks

[@jaih12]

Is this a dead channel now?

[@ThePaintballgun]

I can't help but think this is a terrible idea.

[@doppler3237]

I guess that's why your name fits you so well

[@plazmotech5969]

why?

[@ThePaintballgun]

+Thor Correia He's got a wooden bench top. On a proper bench top if you spill a small amount of solvent and it ignites somehow, it'll burn itself out pretty quickly. If you try this on a wood benchtop, there's a pretty good chance the bench itself will catch fire. plus most "actual" labs have a bunch of safty precautions to make sure stuff like this is safe, which I don't think Doug has here. All laboratories have one or multiple main gas shut-off valves so that if an uncontrolled fire happens, the gas can be turned off from safe location away from the bench (which is now presumably engulfed in flames). I hope Doug has got one too. Oh, and I hope he's confident in his welding abilities, because a leaky gas pipe is a bad time.

[@aetius31]

Large dense wood block is not paper or plastic, it does char but doesnt hold a flame very easily. For example, if you put a large log onto red hot embers it will consume but not take fire.

[@ThePaintballgun]

I mean regardless, using a combustible material is going to be less safe than a non-combustible one.

[@kjpmi]

No? We're just going to ignore the fact that you shouldn't use galvanized pipe for any piece that comes in contact with flame? And this design kinda sucks. The flame was the same for all of your examples and isn't controlled in any useful way. You can just buy a proper burner with a BRASS tip and a fully adjustable valve for about $20. If you can't afford $20 for a burner (assuming you need one) then you probably shouldn't be involved in chemistry as a hobby because doing things safely, in an educated manner usually involves not cutting corners in order to save a few dollars. If you somehow can't afford the $20 (but somehow can afford the propane or natural gas and all the pipe fittings) and want to skimp out on the last piece, the burner, then tell people to use ungalvanized pipe or remove the zinc coating with acid and spray paint it with fireproof paint made for that purpose.

[@EdwardTriesToScience]

No zinc fumes are emitted until the tube is at the melting temp of zinc. You could always just heat the pipe with a torch outside before using it on the burner.

[@w1nterk643]

shut up kris your comment further up was stupid going on about the zinc as if it hasnt been thought about and if you look his first burner is ungalvanized, it is because it doesnt matter that hes using galvanized for the bottom piece on his next one, i think your just one of them people that love the sound of your own voice can imagine you being one of them people that wait for the green man before crossing an empty road and moaning at people for crossing without it, i for one would rather build all my own bits that arent perfect it does the job it lasts forever and theres a great feeling about using things you have built yourself until people like you come along moaning if you dont like it dont build it it isnt as adjustable as one you buy ok, but for you to imply that hes cutting corners and shouldnt be invoved in chemistry because he didnt buy one is a joke

[@joeydubbs763]

Very cool.....er, hot. Whatever.