Plasma Generated Water Gas (Electrically Produced Fuel That Is Not HHO)

In this video I use a carbon arc torch to rapidly produce a flamable gas from water that is not Oxy/Hydrogen. The patent this process comes from can be found here: patents.google.com/patent/US5...
(Thank you Riley Courtier for sending this idea my way!)
My previous video about building a carbon arc torch: • Recreating An Antique ...
Video about how to build a gasometer: • Bio Fuel Storage: Buil...
Thank you to all of my Patreon supporters for keeping me going with this channel through thick and thin! A special thanks to my top Patrons: Enzo Breda Lee, Jon Hartmann, TheBackyardScientist & Eugene Pakhomov! / nighthawkprojects
Thanks for watching!
-Ben

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I will be interested if any of you know of a simple method to separate the mixture of gasses that this process creates.

[@celivalg]

well you could lower them to -195°c where carbon monoxyde would be liquid and dihydrogen still a gas, but that would be tricky

[@maizedong9729]

Was the gas chlorine

[@bryanhumphreys940]

Molecular sieve maybe, even something like a balloon might work. It would be slow though.

[@boxr_4214]

maybe using density? i would figure out how to calculate the amount of carbon vs h2O produced and then figure out where the line between h2 and CO would be on the container. then use some kind of valve to purge off the amount of hydrogen slowly.

[@Zanthum]

Molecular sieve like oxygen concentrators (the medical device might be easier to get ahold of) and liquid nitrogen generators use maybe?

[@Guit4rh3r00]

electrocution, blindness, AND poisoning? time to try one of these projects and i think this is the one!

[@alanacartes3382]

Likewise! I need to get my carbon arc torch built first.

[@kistuszek]

Totally forgot the exploosion! The best part.

[@zenithparsec]

he forgot to add '"and the chance to burn/explode yourself with flammable gases."

[@Russo-Delenda-Est]

@@Boerkie1990 Not entirely sure what you mean by that friend. (College trained welder here) it's not only possible to be electrocuted by a welder, it's a very real danger if you not very carefull.

[@BioluminescenceOfTheSpirit]

@@Russo-Delenda-Est Someone tried to shock me with a welder & nothing happened (not under salt water) What were they doing wrong?

[@ProlificInvention]

So who's going to run a small engine on this? *Project Farm*

[@AbjectPermanence]

What kind of engine does it to take to run on a fuel mixture like this? You couldn't just put it into a typical gasoline engine, right?

[@drackar]

I knew a guy who had a similar setup as the "air intake" for his BMW, supplementing normal fuel. He got crazy high mileage out of it.

[@ProlificInvention]

@@AbjectPermanence You most likely could, *Project Farm* has run engines on many fuels you wouldn't think possible.

[@Amipotsophspond]

@@AbjectPermanence able to work and runs well are two vastly different things hear in Oklahoma people convert their Trucks to run on CNG(compressed natural gas(methane)) sure it's cheaper to run but it's really hard on the engine and kills it's life, but that is frequently someone else's problem.

[@charleslambert3368]

This isn't that different from a wood/coal gasifier. Used to run busses off coal gas during the war, back when all the proper fuel was needed for tanks and spitfires.

[@holyman96]

Its crazy to see how far you've come. I"ve been watching for ages and been enjoying the evolution of your channel... Way back when, I actually requested you make your star mine tutorial, and you actually did it! Inspired my interest in pyrotechnics and i don't doubt that's why i am now studying chemistry. Thanks and keep it up!

[@kevinmarrs3372]

The process you’ve demonstrated here is the same reaction that occurs on an industrial scale to make CO and H2 from coal and water. Look up process called steam reformation. This process also works using natural gas instead of coal. You may want to try the process in a future video using some natural gas and water together and then applying the high heat from the arc. Would be interesting to see the results.

[@HopMan-lj3xl]

People: How safe is this experiment? NightHawkinLight: Yes

[@opt-o-ops7271]

NIghtHawkinLight: Well yes, but actually no

[@Zpicismrad]

haha you made le "yes" meme

[@attomic5319]

That's not how this meme template works

[@hunterjackson802]

How dangerous*

[@Barskor1]

@@hunterjackson802 Yes

[@joshuadefibaugh3634]

*makes video on high power cannons *makes videos on carbon arch torches "Okay, this one is dangerous."

[@nou5440]

cant like cause 69

[@timeorspace]

Yes! As a person who has had an opportunity to build and start up a Fischer Tropsch reactor, I love learning about this home brewed syngas generator! After a few decades pondering the energy/environment/civilization crisis, I believe Civilization needs to get in more touch with synthetic carbon fuels for energy storage, Rock on!

[@lokeshgnanasekar]

This man is the person every educational institute needs. Another impressive video Sir!!!!

[@zakgault4209]

Once again confusing ideas presented in a logical and clever way. We need more of you man! Top class.

[@boxr_4214]

it would be interesting to test how efficient this is at storing energy. i'd assume it to be relatively inefficient compared to other methods but this is very cool.

[@__WJK__]

A hint re solar was given in the first video, which would actually greatly enhance efficiency.

[@twanvl]

It is not a 100% energy storage method, since the carbon electrodes are consumed, and they turn into CO2 when the CO is burned. So you are still burning carbon, only in two steps.

[@jelteklaswijnja4055]

@@twanvl also- the water was heated up significantly during the process, which in most situations would be waste heat.

[@DeCha1011]

@@Derived_One Potential energy - pump type hydroelectric plants, which work like any other hydroelectric plant (dam, difference of levels, water goes down from above, passes through a turbine, boom). They have, however a possibility to pump water upwards when there is lower demand for electricity in the grid and releasing them when the demand is higher. They play a great role in stabilising the power grid actually. Big downside - size, cost and need for water reservoir - not too many places you can build that, and if you can, the local environmental impact is very high. The efficiency comes from the fact, that there is not much energy loss when pumping a liquid - and large machines are generally more efficient than small ones, so overall efficiency goes quite high.| Fun fact - in such plants the turbine can work as pump and a generator as motor. No need for separate pump units. Hope I have interested you a bit in the topic (of course if you did not know this already :D )

[@azz2]

@@Derived_One when enough electric cars are on the grid that will be a pretty efficient short term store. Long term storage would really be chemical or potential.

[@hunterjackson802]

Make your wood gasifier as efficient as possible, make a couple different types of condensers, filters and purifiers to see how clean you can get the end product. It would be really cool to test different batches using different types of woods, setups and see if the burn or color change.

[@ElementalMaker]

Absolutely incredible! I had no idea that the heat of an arc could be used in this way! I was wondering about striking an arc underwater though, and glad I didn't, I had no idea CO gas would be generated.

[@dantronics1682]

dont be fooled, oh you already were? I was going to ask if you have heard of underwater welding but you were already fooled

[@Muonium1]

I know that the main products are monoxide and hydrogen, but the super high temperatures of electrical arcs are strange things and can produce unexpected complexity. I would like to see the product gas run through a mass spec to see what trace species were also produced. I bet you would see some methane, ethylene, acetylene, maybe even ethane in there. Recall that a simple spark in an atmosphere of hydrogen, water and ammonia produces a rich array of amino acids (Urey-Miller). I don't think anything as complex as that is being created in a setup like this (no time for it), but all the same, I bet there are interesting complex trace components in that gas, perhaps even exotic things like endohedral fullerenes.

[@shannondove96]

Muonium when i used to arc charcoal under water , the bubbles did have a very strange smell to them.

[@ricardasist]

Had the same expectation

[@Syniurge]

The proportion of acetylene might be significant, considering that passing hydrogen inside a carbon rod electric arc is how acetylene was first synthesized.

[@wilfreddv]

Especially mixing in the fact he's using water that has organic components from the leafs in it.

[@stasi0238]

@@shannondove96 bro are you still alive

[@sakemaki10]

I had no clue what the gas could be until you mentioned the carbon rods, you are a great teacher. A spectrometer would have been perfect for identifying if it indeed was sodium contamination. There are DIY versions using CDs.

[@Scrogan]

A prism or two inside a telescope-like apparatus is pretty simple too if you only need a spectroscope’s qualitative measurements. You can buy them from AliExpress for $3 or something with two plastic prisms and a mirror between. Relying on differential refraction as opposed to diffraction means you don’t get nearly the precision you would from a diffraction grating, but it’s more than good enough for a simple spectroscope. An actual quantitative spectrometer would make for a really interesting project, and personally instead of using a CCD or photodiode I’d use something like an RE200B on a swinging arm, that way I could measure down to wavelengths far longer than 1μm. So long as I swap out the diffraction gratings, that is.

[@wooy1701]

I think its CO and H2

[@bittersweet5161]

Ayyy, really interesting seeing this! My HS Chemistry teacher once offhandedly mentioned this process I think, I was thinking it might be that when I saw the title. I thought it probably made CO and H2 but I barely remembered that the main condition for it was high heat. Wild seeing it in a video, really cool!

[@AgentWest]

Thank you for going in detail and explaining what's actually happening. Have seen way too many over-hyped HHO bubbles where the guy will be pumping a bunch of electricity into the gas generator, boiling the water, and boasting about how much "HHO gas" his generator is producing. Also decided to figure out how efficient your plasma separator is and provided my 3-am math is correct you got 80 watts worth of gas for 120 watts worth of electricity, giving this particular setup about a 66% efficiency. Numbers I used for that educated guess are as follows: Power input --- 150A (proclaimed) welder output at 20V (average voltage for those amps in stick welding) running for 25 seconds (timed from video). Power output --- 20 liter of gas (estimated volume from what looks like a 15 cm collector that raises about 15 cm) rounded up to 1 mole of mix (22.4 liters) that produces 80 watt/hours when burned.

[@justincase1898]

Nice... i wonder what the conversion rate back would be... time to build a steam turbine and/or engine

[@tomh2628]

Here's a probably wrong guess but maybe the gas could be some sort of hydrocarbon from the carbon rods and the hydrogen in the water

[@tomh2628]

Well I was sort of close. Cool video though!

[@bearcatben4762]

Yeah my guess was Oxygen and Methane

[@yaykruser]

Bearcat Ben Mine too, but when you think about it, Methane burns in Oxygen, so the carbon Atom would rater have the Oxygen bound to it than the Hydrogen.

[@karlharvymarx2650]

He made Syngas. I'd be slightly surprised if there isn't some hydrocarbon contamination in his gas. If he got the arc going in it, it may randomly produce hydrocarbons. Add some nitrogen, sulfur, a pinch of phosphorus and maybe a couple of other ingredients, and the arc would make some of the building blocks of life, like amino and nucleic acids, proteins, maybe lipids and misc. UVC light might be a better way though, a little gentler so it might not rip stuff apart as quickly as it is stuck together. Something like that is thought to be why some asteroids have some of that essential to life gunk. Such gunk, plus time, might be where life started on Earth.

[@jonross377]

@@karlharvymarx2650 GOD started life on Earth. Your welcome.

[@reggiep75]

3:12 - I was hoping to see the arcs but wasn't expecting to see much when the bowl was turned sideways. I was pleased when the bowl & water was like a lens and magnifying it great to see the arcs stop & start. Once the exposure was turned down it was good to see the gas bubbles.

[@dimitriisov1262]

7:22 his expression says so much about his love of science

[@italoximenes8755]

7:06 so relieved when he finally mentions the detector

[@electronicsNmore]

Love these experiments! 👍👍

[@dr.zarkhov9753]

Ben, just wanted to say thanks for the content you and all your supporters create. You and so many others are sort of the new 'Mr Wizards' of 21st century mass media. Keep up the great work continuing to bring us all such wonderful experiments that help us all understand how the world works.

[@nodros1]

It must have been such a satisfying feeling seeing that flame for the first time, well done!

[@ibnjmn]

There was a company called Aquafuel that was trying to commercialize this process in the early 2000's. I was pretty fascinated with it at the time, so I loved this! One of the claims that they made was that the process could be used to purify water that had organic contaminants in it. I'd like to see an experiment showing whether that works as well!

[@davidscott5903]

It would work for getting pure water, because after you burn the gasses, you can condense the water vapor and collect the water. You could also trap and compress the CO2 and end up with pretty pure CO2.

[@davidscott5903]

Collecting the CO2 is of course if you are burning it in pure oxygen.

[@RileyCourter]

That's what lead me to the patent! I found the guys website when looking up carbon rods on google images. Seeing a picture of two rods in a water bottle was one of those irresistible clicks haha.

[@ibnjmn]

@@davidscott5903 I think what they described was actually something like a several-foot long tube with several of these reactors inside it. Dirty water (e.g. sewage) went in, and "clear" (not necessarily potable) water and gases came out. Supposedly the reaction consumed the carbon compounds from the water. I need to find a better reference than my memory, though.

[@troystutsman1400]

AD UNUM TRISTIS That’s what I was wondering about... The removal of heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, and such. I would guess that things like viruses and bacteria would get burnt up and destroyed that way.

[@ChristieNel]

Absolutely beautiful. I love it when technologies come together to produce something new.

[@noahrousseau8801]

This is a really cool process, it gives me lots of ideas for what could be done with it on a large scale

[@basyoni95]

Epic video my friend, thank YOU for making it and sharing ur knowledge with us.

[@MichaelJOneill333]

Ive been waiting for this video! Yay! Thank you!

[@elighb4314]

Mate have just recently stumbled across the wood gas concept and seen your videos about it and had to subscribe, definitely glad I did now!! You're a true "mad scientist" 😄, I love it!!

[@rezaamanat3259]

Hello Sir I love the content you provide. Probably the best educational channel I've subscribed to on KZbin. Thank you for your efforts. I hope you're staying safe during these trying times.

[@billallen275]

Nice job! I first saw this gas back in the mid-90s, and a friend tested it found it to be fairly low energy gas, but fascinating and if you needed a gas flame this would be a great way to produce it.

[@krzysztofmolenda9252]

For the separation of products you may use water shift reaction. Not a separation per se, but will yield one product, and IMO the more interesting one. And it will be great to see WSR in a workshop scale.

[@akashmukherjee2405]

As far as I remember from my chemistry classes, Carbon Electrode breaks down to generate highly reactive carbon atoms under high temperatures which has the ability to combine oxy-hydrogen atoms to generate an into an hexagonal intermediate unstable molecular state, and finally, another nascent oxygen or hydrogen splices the intermediate species to generate methane, acetylene, ethylene, methanol, formaldehyde or formic acid, which can react back on the intermediate stage to generate a multiple combinations of hydrocarbons, aldehydes and ketones. So I believe its not a single species of gas produced, but a mixture of all probable organic molecules depending on the exposure time

[@whatelseison8970]

I've been bugging every maker-tuber I know to try making producer/water/syngas. Stoked for this.

[@sCube369]

8:12 I love how he goes full [calculation mode] right there and you just simply know that those numbers are running in his head so freaking fast that very second and as a nerd I love watching it

[@stormorjin6300]

About that extra yellow-orange colour at the end; there is a possibility that glass got ionised by arc torch and released sodium ions in the gas mix.

[@fredkow553]

Its hot enough

[@Muonium1]

It's more likely that the sodium was simply present in the leaf strewn rainwater to begin with. Sodium is an incredibly efficient converter of various energy forms into yellow light (the d-lines), there's a reason it's been used in every street lamp in the world for the past half century up until very recently.

[@beenis08]

Oh like Nile Red's microwave plasma video

[@incrediblemichael]

not really the glas because carbon rods for making light are doped with salt to change the lightcolour from something blue ish to warm white and this rods he use are clearly for arc lamps seen them before several times

[@3000gtwelder]

@@incrediblemichael You don't know what you are talking about lol. Those are carbon arc rods for removing metal such as welds that need to be redone, or back gouging for weld prep. Those are not rods for acr lamps. I am a welder with 30 years of experience, and I have used those exact rods many many times.

[@kylegreen5600]

I'd love to see you tackle making your own Vanadium redox flow battery. I've always thought they might be a great candidate for grid level storage as their scalability seems pretty good.

[@fss1704]

Getting vanadium is a bitch

[@HashlandXXX]

You always showcase the best things in science and engineering. Thanks for your continued devotion to educational videos. This stuff needs to be learned, even if not immediately implemented.

[@ihtsarl9115]

I have a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering and I keep learning new great ideas from your videos.. Thanks for your effort to make this experiment.

[@adrianschwier852]

Nice experiment. If the Main Reaktion is H2O + C --> H2 + CO, the you are able to produce two moles of Gas per one mol of Carbon. Thats 2 x 22,4L per 12g of carbon or about 3700ml per 1g of C. Ohne Suggestion: Please weight you Elctrodes before and After, to See if the reaction is taking place . Greatings from Germany.

[@the_ALchannel]

Very cool! Look up Syngas or Synthesis gas, it's the same mixture that's been produced for over a hundred years by various methods.

[@scottwilliams895]

Ah! Yes, someone else did identify it!

[@treeman5590]

Awesome!, it's great to see how useful antique technology can truly be.

[@mushitrials9808]

You have explained it very well i used to play with Arcs and i will try it

[@mrslinkydragon9910]

The give away was the poison warning.

[@kicksledkid]

It's official, there's a legit alchemist on KZbin

[@glenngriffon8032]

This channel is so great for off grid living ideas.

[@shyleshsrinivasan5092]

Thanks a lot for this video ! Never seen this trick before !

[@kdawg3484]

Interesting experiment. Probably one of the most inefficient methods possible to create syngas. As a chemical engineer, I cringe a little bit at using syngas as just fuel. It's the precursor to a huge variety of chemical products from ammonia to methanol to Fischer-Tropsch gas-to-liquids products. An absolutely enormous amount of the world's energy goes into making that combination of H2 and CO. Now I'm curious what you could actually do with your small amount of atmospheric pressure syngas besides burn it. I've designed industrial scale low-pressure syngas plants, but I wonder what a hobbyist could do. I'll have to check some of my books.

[@RileyCourter]

I thought if some of the heat and light energy was recaptured, this would be a good generation method, but it's starting to dawn on me that it's still way too energy intensive to justify at an industrial scale. It's still a fun problem to me though haha.

[@RubixB0y]

0:56 end of the challenge statement "First thing's first... my carbon-" Me: IT'S METHANE Edit: spelling

[@PumpkinsAmongUs]

That was my thought as well

[@joshsk8erx1]

That's what I thought too!

[@Chrisamos412]

You sir are genius and a mad scientist! I’m a retired oil refinery operator, and I’d guess you’d have a lot of fun in one of those places!

[@christiaan6443]

Really interesting point about the yellow flame indicating sodium contamination. If you haven't already (I haven't looked), that might be a cool topic to explore: what different flame colors tell us about the elements being oxidized. Anyway thank you for the excellent video

[@underdog1252]

Try condensing the gas using liquid nitrogen or dry ice. That way you'll be able to see if its a hydrocarbon/CO or if you're just making HHO.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

If it were HHO it would be a lot more explodey than what you see coming out of the burner. My gasometer probably would have gone through the roof

[@sleeptyper]

If it was just HHO, the carbon from the rods would have to recombine into soot, suspend in the water and turn it murky.

[@theekdunn]

LN2 would work, but only just barely. CO condenses at -192C and LN2 at -196C. For reference, oxygen condenses at -183C. Dry ice would not work for anything other than water vapor.

[@davidscott5903]

If you use any other type of gas without a heat exchanger, but just as a direct heat exchange process, then the other gas such as the LNG would vaporize and mix with the hydrogen and then you are back where you started except now it's mixed with a gas that has an even lower condensing temperature.

[@jordanmann]

In the next video: running my car on carbon monoxide!

[@higuys6]

Pls do that

[@davidscott5903]

If we could just find a way to store it in a small tank, then I would do it.

[@rallen7660]

This was actually done during WW II, during the gasoline rationing in America and Australia. They just produced it with a wood gasifier. It had about 2/3 the energy density of gasoline, so once rationing was over, everyone went back to petroleum for the performance.

[@3000gtwelder]

Not sure if it's possible for the alternator to provide enough power to keep up with gas production with this method. I have studied this for years with HHO, and think this method has too many losses. It would be cool to see someone try it, though I don't think you could generate enough to keep the engine running under a load.

[@dentasla]

OMG this is so AWESOME!!! I have been subscribed but just got You in my feed!!! And the gasometer!!! Man I have been trying to figure out how to do this!!!! Awesome GOD BLESS MAN....I GOTTA WATCH THEM ALL!!!

[@backpocket718]

Highly enjoy all your videos. Very interesting. I'd love to see what you could do with hydroponics or aquaponics. Maybe generate Algie and convert to biofuels? Would be interesting to see what kind of cool new methods you come up with. You always seem to surprise me the stuff you come up with.

[@ElectroXa]

Hi, I've 2 experiment ideas to submit to you : 1) to know if it's CO from carbon rod or not, I suggest you to try using non carbon electrodes ⚡ 2) using a slightly higher voltage to make the electric arc more stable 😉

[@aok4128]

Great video! I would like to see the same process, only at a higher frequency, (400hz and above). By the way what is the smallest carbon arc in terms of wattage.

[@varadmudvikar4414]

Haber-bosch process also seems a good idea for a video. Is it too complicated to replicate it? Your videos are great to watch. Love your projects.

[@DavidHansen1]

There is a great book on the Haber/Bosch history. It's titled: "The Alchemy of Air" Spoiler alert: To do that experiment, you have to reach very high pressures.

[@bernardoc9531]

You guy, are great. I like these video!

[@H3adcrash]

This project had me instantly think of Aaron Fechter's "hydrillium" project, where he made, what I racall was this very same gas, fed it through a compressor to fill gas bottles, and had some bbq restaurants use it to cook meat and what not.

[@dragonoptions8183]

Next video, could you try running this fuel on a generator and or running a stove while cooking eggs or something.

[@xvidavi]

making fuel with elecricity and then using it to generate electricity, its like a battery but with extra steps

[@calvingreene90]

@@xvidavi Better long term energy storage, the energy density will of the storage system improves when larger, the stored energy can be transferred more efficiently to other storage vessels for powering cars (the energy density is much better for it as well.)

[@calvingreene90]

@@xvidavi And a lower self discharge rate.

[@DavidHansen1]

Love to know them temp of the flame...yes, please cook with that in a video. Even if it isn't an efficient method, you still could perhaps get a fuel for indoor cooking and heating from wind or solar in an emergency (if your home had no gas or electricity for days)

[@davespillane5408]

@@calvingreene90 Thats where this gas mixture falls short. It destroys steel and cannot be compressed into tanks the way pure H2 or propane can be. Maybe a fiberglass tank like most firefighters use would be okay.

[@rhythmjain5639]

My guess is CO and H2.

[@Anonymous-wd1dk]

How will you get CO from H2O?

[@endothermicexothermic4051]

@@Anonymous-wd1dk The carbon electrode

[@chrissollazzo6835]

You sir, have never been in a box to think outside of. Lol I'm curious to know the data on electric energy usage vs fuel energy created. (Yes, I'm one of those nerdy people.) I've been watching your videos for years. You never disappoint. Thank you!

[@GianniLaschi]

Will be interesting using that carbon rod to make GDPE (Glow Discharge Plasma Electrolisys) as for example i've done in some of my videos, i never tried to catch the gas output. Great video as always !!!

[@tonyHern865]

5:42 you turned me nervous when you started to touch the electrodes

[@spagamoto]

Good to have respect for electricity! In this case it's connected to an arc welder, which is low enough voltage to not be dangerous to touch. It *is* dangerous in other ways though - heat and ultraviolet light, mostly.

[@koifish6305]

Haha I love how he basically made a bong and it's 4/20. Maybe that's intentional. Idk

[@dominicdeluca6378]

It's straight up dank gas

[@brandonsihvonen8555]

@@dominicdeluca6378 dank gas??

[@V-C137]

Very interesting video as usual! Great job

[@theonlyalan731]

I absolutely love your Channel

[@26CW128Jake]

My guess: carbon monoxide!?

[@26CW128Jake]

EYYYY!

[@mralabbad7]

And good ol' H

[@felixpham615]

and some hydrogen gas

[@TheKopakah]

@@mralabbad7 H2 actually

[@Silasssssssss]

@@TheKopakah It's both most likely since the flame was orange/yellow Edit: NVM he says it in the vid

[@vdekjEE]

Nighthawkinlight: “there is a risk of electrocution, blindness” Me: eh that doesn’t sound interesting Nighthawk: and if those two things don’t get you, poisoning Me: oooh, you have me hooked, that sounds fun!

[@mattparker9726]

on woodgas production, I have mentioned before,on your motorized bicycle project, I suggest installing an arduino controlled carb (using electrically controlled valves) in this way a level of precision can be established. I hope you are continuing experimentation on this project.

[@jogandsp]

Not surprised that its CO. Sounds like plasma steam reforming. Very cool video!

[@CarbonFiberSpoon]

Out of curiosity, have you calculated the cost of a single tank given your local price for electricity?

[@Nighthawkinlight]

This would really only be economical on an industrial scale where you have to find some use for the electricity a wind farm was generating through the night (as one example)

[@CarbonFiberSpoon]

@@Nighthawkinlight I was thinking of energy storage for cold Nordic winters. The standard solution of burning wood involves the very tedious work of moving it around in the summer and keeping a fire going throughout winter. So a lot of households have already opted for gas heating. The components required for 20 seconds of 150A@20V aren't prohibitively expensive (caps or battery / solar panel). In the summer the sun is also plenty. Although these small bursts won't be on an industrial scale, one could calculate the solar panel area required to heat a household throughout winter. Granted, this direction of heating seems quite a bit more dangerous than playing with fire and there are ofcourse many other directions of efficient heating available which are inherently safe, but a lot of them require a big upfront cost.

[@kistuszek]

@@CarbonFiberSpoon You wont be storing this anywhere cheaply enough to make it worth your while i guess. At least not in a scale that worth considering for seasonal storage.

[@Falcodrin]

@@CarbonFiberSpoon woodgas allows heating far from the wood

[@user-wt5rp5kr1h]

@@Nighthawkinlight then how cost effective. is it compared to a li ion battery

[@enotdetcelfer]

I just generate a lot of low pressure methane personally... is this product right for me?

[@robertmillward6829]

I have a 19KW solar system that I am going to go off grid with. The climate I will be in is not suitable for batteries. Thank you for this video as I can now use my array to power the homestead during the day as well as make gas for storage to keep generators running during evening hours! Thank you again!

[@billallen275]

Cool! I remember when this was discussed in the early 90's! A friend did it.

[@ouroya]

guessing probably something like acetylene from the carbon rods

[@joeylawn36111]

No, mostly Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen.

[@MCchomper]

i also guessed acetylene. I'm glad I wasn't the only one.

[@Ultrabrezel]

The reaction between hydrogen and carbon monoxide produces methanol . CO + H2 = CH3OH

[@Nighthawkinlight]

That would be pretty interesting to form in a secondary reaction

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I assume it requires a catalyst?

[@Ultrabrezel]

@@Nighthawkinlight It does not seem like they need a catalyst. But i could also be wrong. EDIT: Sabatier's reaction describes that you need 300-400 °C and presence of a nickel catalyst to get methanol.

[@xeigen2]

It can be done but it's really an industrial process. The reaction takes place over a copper and zinc oxide catalyst at 50-100 atmospheres and 250°C.

[@johnmcfadden9336]

Space a much safer way to store these gases , I have often wanted to know how this could be done

[@stevensteven7165]

Wow. I love this stuff. Hope to see more.

[@grayem76]

Love your work just wondering how hot this flame is and also if you had excess power could you put more than one arc welder in the same tank or would it cause the second arc not to strike

[@SateenDuraLuxe]

Could you combine that process with solar panels to make a super cheap energy storage method that doesn't require spending thousands on battery banks.

[@troystutsman1400]

SateenDuraLuxe I was wondering the same thing. People are asking about the cost effectiveness of producing this gas compared to the cost of the electricity it takes to make it. If you were getting your electricity for free by generating your own via solar, wind, or hydro it might be very cost effective...

[@BeHappyTo]

but these things are not free so you should factor in all the costs and efficiencies to be sure

[@raytecpen]

That’s a huge freakin gravity bong!!! HAPPY 420

[@cameronjohnston5748]

Really well thought out. It made me think of Stanley Meyers and his car that ran on water, and how he died.

[@kenfogarty2968]

Check out the colours of the flames brilliant experiment and so near to a major discovery! Well Done

[@sasjadevries]

Hmmm, you're generating hydrogen, oxygen and carbon. This looks similar to the production of syngas. So it's likely that you're not only making CO and H2, but also some of their reaction products. But what they wrote in the parent is bs: _"It is the applicant's belief that a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen (COH2) is a gas which..."_

[@kiyoponnn]

The applicant is a moron, and this is a useless patent

[@glenecollins]

sasja de vries. Syngas is a bit safer but if you are going to try this you are probably better off assuming it is making CO and treating it accordingly unless you have a Gas Chromatograph handy. I was thinking about putting in a comment about it making some interesting byproducts. He would also be making carbon nanotubes which are a potential carcinogen. Got carbon monoxide also has a thing for metals etc so there is a lot of interesting chemistry in that reaction

[@sasjadevries]

​@@glenecollins Well, syngas is basically a mix of mostly carbon monoxide and hydrogen. And THAT is exactly what he is making here, he is just making plain old syngas. However I'm not sure how pure that syngas is, firstly there are impurities in the water, secondly I'm not sure if the syngas turns into something else. Maybe the syngas is turning into another hydrocarbon because of the intense heat. In the patent they wrote this gas contains COH2 (formaldehyde), which is also toxic btw. And you're only concerned about the monoxide??? And no, you shouldn't treat this as Carbon monoxide, you should treat it as syngas (mix of CO and H2) with impurities. Hydrogen is way more dangerous than you think, it leaks right through plastic and it burns in any ratio with air.

[@sasjadevries]

@@kiyoponnn ​ You are correct. Most patent applications are BS. People who really invent something often keep things secret and don't patent it so that no-one knows how they did it. And the dumbasses who can't make money anyway like to patent for the prestige and the bragging rights. The American patent office should be like the Japanese, German or Russian patent offices. They always reject these patent applications that don't invent anything new.

[@christopherohare1243]

"Do not try this at home" *Proceeds to go through detailed progress on how to do it*

[@davidscott5903]

That's why we love him.

[@pmae9010]

I like the carbon arc torch, thanks for the lesson.

[@saintsnick]

I've seen this exact carbon Arc gas power and engine which then energized the arc welder, effectively turning water into engine fuel, which also provided an additional output all of electrical load and heat and vibration.

[@arturmartins8435]

i think you are producing methane edit: i was wrong, didnt even know carbon monoxide was flamable, so really cool.

[@ashketchup247]

I'm in the exact same boat.

[@b4by_dr1v3r4]

I nearly jumped out of my seat when I had a think about it and took an educated guess about what was going on and it was right!!! :) Good feeling, good video

[@nimalsandunsiri4024]

Good idea.thank you

[@reynoldsbatolsr4648]

Never have seen this experiment. Very cool with carbon arc.

[@AllThingsOrigins]

Absolutely Amazing ❤

[@KJW742]

Dangerous haha. Ive been following you since you made videos on homemade Triacetone-triperoxide

[@user-on6ul5ke8b]

Thank you for the vid, it's really heplful.

[@geoffreylohff3876]

Wow... I missed this 2 years ago (but saw your gasometer & woodgas vids). Interestingly, the output of this & your woodgas generator are CO & H2 (although I assume in different proportions). This is much cleaner.

[@dogphlap6749]

Thank you for the link to the patent where it is stated that one of the uses for this device would be to provide the COHH gas to fuel an internal combustion engine without the need for problematic gas storage because the gas generation is fast enough to keep up with the instantaneous demands of a gas engine. But that brings up where is the electricity coming from, a large storage battery perhaps. I'm strugling to see how this makes sense.

[@uxvalgochezgallerybarcelon7339]

awesome ! Thanks!

[@soulhunter0]

When you went on to say that the gas was poisonous, I immediately thought of chlorine gas, and that you had salt water in the tank, but then you said it was rain water i was like, "ok, now i'm clueless", never would have thought that the carbon from the rods would behave like that under those conditions. Again a very cool video!

[@fss1704]

You seem like someone that took a whiff of some chlorine too, it's unforgettable isn't it.

[@simonbartlett5]

Nice experiment.Probably a good reason why it’s relatively unknown is the amount of energy needed to make it, completely offsets the amount gained. Still, a great example of the construction of molecules. Thanks for a great video.