This Candle MAKES Oxygen and Started a Fire on a Space Station

In this video we make an Oxygen Candle that actually MAKES oxygen as it burns. It's also called a chemical oxygen generator.
To make it, 60g of potassium chlorate are mixed with 30g of iron metal powder and 2g of calcium oxide. The powders are thoroughly mixed and initiated by direct flames or a sparkler. The reaction burns the iron powder and generates enough heat to decompose the remaining potassium chlorate into oxygen and potassium chloride. Such devices are used often in air craft, submarines, mining operations, and even space craft.
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[@NurdRage]

After all my testing i still have about 100g of oxygen candle composition left over, any suggestions what to do with it?

[@sciencefusion5352]

Love from India ❤❤❤

[@C4pungMaster]

More exotic thermite?

[@zchemist]

welcome back bro

[@ARandomTroll]

Torch cutting demonstration? Acetylene trash bag?

[@GQuack]

Starting a barbeque with it like one of your older videos did sounds like a bad idea due to the insanely high heat, so other than that(if you even wanna try it with a bowl that big that resists the temperature), no, not really. Also, love the shoutout to Destin!

[@mikeb.3918]

In 1986 we experienced (2) oxygen candle fires on the submarine I was stationed on. The fires were caused by a contaminated batch of candles and resulted in the candles burning at an extreme rate (approx 10x the normal rate). The fires were so hot they melted the heavy gauge stainless steel candle furnaces into puddles and warped the 1/4" steel deck plates they were sitting on. The only collateral damage caused was due to a PKP extinguisher being discharged in the machinery space and all the electrical motors in the space then requiring replacement due to the corrosive nature of that fire fighting agent.

[@DreStyle]

fire cant melt steel :P

[@margodphd]

​@@DreStyle.......... please tell me you are joking

[@gfries4906]

​@@DreStyle dumbass

[@strf90105]

​@DreStyle it can at over 500°F

[@rbo7]

NurdRage, the OG Walter White of KZbin.

[@rakinkazi9780]

True that. The OG chemistry youtuber

[@Based_Dept.]

Always an npc to make a breaking bad reference comment

[@Creek1]

For real, I haven’t watched him for a long time and was happily surprised he’s still posting.

[@Sniperboy5551]

Still waiting for that P2P synthesis

[@charleschidsey2831]

OG yes, Walter White no.

[@MerchantMarineGuy]

I worked on a sub tender ship and we had one cargo hold full of these things. Terrified me.

[@nerdalert226]

I actually work for a commercial space station company as a design engineer and we stray away from utilizing systems like these since they are consumables which are (obviously) quite dangerous, lol. Instead we use electrolytic oxygen generation, since it "closes the loop" on our ECLSS system. Been following your videos for years and used to make my own lol - great to see that you are still making great content!

[@NurdRage]

yeah i say at about 1:00 that those applications primarily get oxygen from other sources and i mention electrolysis a bit later. I probably should have specifically said electrolysis so it was clear. Anyway, I do plan on showing a PEM electrolyzer in an upcoming video and will specify its the primary oxygen generation method on space craft. Perhaps you could answer a question for me: Why isn't liquid oxygen used? I think it's because of the difficulties of handling cryogenic storage, but i'd like to hear it from an expert.

[@nerdalert226]

Looking forward to seeing the PEM electrolyzer, that sounds sweet! Cryogenic storage is definitely a huge challenge just not for the reasons you'd expect, while keeping O2 that cold in space is hard and boiloff is inevitable, the dangers of on-station LO2 storage are very much against the wishes of NASA - the Apollo 13 incident occurred due to instrumentation required to keep the cryogenic O2 tanks of uniform density as heat "leaked in" from the space environment and created variation in the liquid O2 density (no bueno for tracking volume stored in the tank or for the onboard fuel cells, this is what "stirring the tanks" means). This instrumentation failed and then caused the explosion which rendered the mission a failure (but made for a great story and learning lesson!) Basically the jist of it is, with a PEM stack constantly providing high-pressure O2 on-demand, you don't really need the high-density storage LO2 offers, since the risk of having cryogenics mere feet away from crew is simply not worth the regulatory red tape from NASA (who oversees our contract) nor the risk to the station for greater bulk storage. Its amazing how dangerous oxygen (especially LO2) actually is in practice, many many failures in aerospace can be traced to lack of proper oxygen compatibility with hardware! (edit: it is so freaking cool that you replied to my comment lol - thanks for inspiring me years and years ago to keep studying Chemistry!) @@NurdRage

[@garnet4846]

Lol, tell more lies clownshoes.

[@Enjoymentboy]

This is really interesting. When I was very young I used to play in my grandpa's workshop. I remember he had a welding torch kit that used propane cylinders and a steel tube that he would load with what looked like cubes of charcoal. He would light the top one and then cap it off very quickly and within 30 seconds oxygen would start coming out and the propane flame would get smaller and hotter and this is how he showed me how to weld. I have to assume this was the stuff that the cube were made of.

[@hugostiglitz4452]

that i think couldve been a product called solidox??? i might be mistaken though

[@keithcarpenter5254]

​@@hugostiglitz4452it was indeed. My late father had one in the 80s!😊

[@hugostiglitz4452]

@@keithcarpenter5254 only reason i even know about that is from that certain book back in the day about anarchy lmao learned alot of useful chemistry from that without breaking the law.

[@KainYusanagi]

@@hugostiglitz4452 SolidOx (yes, they stylized it with a capital O) was a compressed oxygen candle material that used sodium chlorate as its base just like NurdRage's, so you're both correct!

[@hugostiglitz4452]

@@KainYusanagi oh shit lol nice

[@josephgauthier5018]

i love that the navy guy was cagy about what was in the oxygen candle, but then you just up and told everyone 😂

[@kevinknutson4596]

I remember seeing the smarter everyday video and wondering why they would put up with the risk aboard a submarine. I'm surprised just how tame these reactions are when properly handled!

[@clxwncrxwn]

Well on the submarines the guy setting up the candle said once it starts burning you can't put it out, and that's why they had a candle burner device.

[@exceptionalanimations1508]

@@clxwncrxwn ah what do you mean? just cover it up and it'll suffocate... right..?

[@nickalfonso8616]

@@exceptionalanimations1508 No. Suffocating a flame deprives it of the atmospheric oxygen it needs to burn. This reaction produces its own oxygen so it will continue to burn. Might even burn better.

[@nuip7936]

@@exceptionalanimations1508 nick is right, the oxygen candles produce their own oxygen during the burning process so if you sealed it, it would probably explode

[@Ghorda9]

@@nuip7936 just smothering it isn't enough to make it "explode", the cover would need a lot more force than just bare hands or it's own weight.

[@Inquisitribble]

Correction: I mistook the following incident for this type of reaction due to it sharing some properties with what’s in this video, mainly that it produces oxygen. However, I don’t think it’s similar because potassium superoxide was used to scrub CO2, not primarily to produce oxygen, unlike the reaction shown in this video, and I don’t think that reaction is a combustion reaction. Another notable incident involving this sort of reaction involved the Russian submarine Kursk, where one of these oxygen generators exploded after falling into water, which started a fire that ultimately killed the survivors of the initial incident that severely damaged the vessel.

[@rifleman1002]

Also the warheads for the torpedoes were expired and very sensitive so the first explosion caused the torpedoes to explode, literally cutting the sub in half. (I think this is what happened but I could be wrong, This is all coming from memory). Delta level fires (self oxidizing) are terrifying because they're nearly impossible to put out on a submarine.

[@Inquisitribble]

@@rifleman1002 This happened a while after the initial hydrogen peroxide explosion that killed or incapacitated much of the crew, and then led to the larger set of explosions (caused by actual warheads going off) that blew open the submarine and flooded many of the compartments.

[@rifleman1002]

@@Inquisitribble yeah the first explosion killed all of the torpedomen. A couple of minutes later the torpedoes exploded and destroyed the ship. If the rescue subs were quick enough they could have saved the rest of the crew but bad weather ruined it. They all suffocated before the chamber had a chance to flood. Really goes to show how absolutely awful a submarine fire can be, especially in the torpedo room, or worse, the reactor room.

[@rifleman1002]

Also if Russia wasn't so hell bent on keeping the sub (and subsequent accident) a secret and allowed international help, they definitely could have rescued the remaining crew.

[@abitofabitofabit4404]

@@rifleman1002 To be fair, the international community has form in abusing emergency access for their private ends. Project Azorian, anyone?

[@phookadude]

They used to sell small oxy propane torch systems that used this method burning a stick of this stuff in a can.

[@MrVeryCranky]

They were called solidox, and used propane As the fuel.

[@Renville80]

I believe there was a home version of an oxyacetylene welder that used oxygen candles - it had a 'strike anywhere' end then it was placed into an enclosure to generate the oxygen needed.

[@Hackerhunter15]

What Nurdrage could do with Nilered's equipment, one could dream.

[@keithjurena9319]

Back in the 1980s, a welding system used this chemistry. Called SolidOx, the oxygen candles were sticks reinforced with fiberglass that had a match head friction ignition system on the end. It is how I learned to gas weld.

[@futurevegan8617]

It would be cool to have one of these in a confined space situation other than a submarine... Like cave diving, or cave rescue.

[@morgansinclair6318]

I remember reading about the space station fire as a child space nerd* and it's neat to finally get more details on how the system worked. Wonderful video as always! By the by, for the subtitles, unlike ISS, Mir is not an acronym and so doesn't need to be in all caps. *as opposed the adult space nerd I am now

[@NurdRage]

Gotcha! I'll fix it when I get home!

[@garnet4846]

And space stations are not a real thing, don't forget that.

[@TAR3N]

So great to see you active again !!! I wish that 2024 is happy and successful for you and your channel! Still waiting to see if you will make WFNA one day …. I’ve seen so many people fail at it .

[@720MotorWorks]

Wow this brought back a lot of memories of what seems like a decade ago. Very cool to see you're still putting out great content

[@elvendragonhammer5433]

The original Etch-A-Sketch units (the clear plastic window part) used to do the same thing. After multiple reports from fire dept authorities to the company about them acting as accelerators in house fires. (by being left too close to things like space heaters, etc.) Independent testing revealed the flame from a lighter in contact with it for about 5 seconds was enough to start a run-away reaction, & the silver colored powder inside was flammable also. The revised plastic creates a thick carbon film & will actually put itself out as long as surrounding temps aren't enough to maintain it's reaction.

[@thatdamhippy6937]

I'm glad after all these years your still making videos they are fun and educational keep up the good work

[@Dr_Mario2007]

Oxygen candles are quite interesting stuff once you're into pyrotechnics, like an enthusiastic pyromaniac, you would find something quite interesting, particularly with some oxidizers, Potassium Chlorate being the usual options. They're also stupid reliable if you don't mess with it too much, especially keeping it dry. Of course some oxygen generators have expiration dates on them, it's not always the particular candle inside, rather the igniters which there's not too much shelf stable options out there. And yet, as you can expect having dealt with Oxygen fires, either for fun or by accident, it also can be dangerous if looked at the wrong way. Oxygen candle thermite would be pretty interesting.

[@Hobypyrocom]

must note what you forgot to mention (or maybe i miss it)... any chlorate/metal powder mix, might spontaneously combust in presence of moisture...

[@AsmodeusMictian]

I really enjoy your videos. Not only is the production quality really high but you take care to explain things in a way that virtually anyone could understand them. That, sir, is one hell of a talent. Thanks for the awesome video, and stay safe out there :)

[@gojohnson2511]

I have been wanting someone to cover oxygen candles for months. Thank you for this.

[@latemanparodius5133]

Hm. Seems like between this and 'normal' fires, there should be a mix where the fire is oxygen neutral. Not entirely sure what the benefits of such a fire would be, but it would be interesting, nonetheless.

[@Abdega]

Maybe as a sensor of sort? Have something small almost like a pilot light that could detect a change in oxygen. If oxygen decreases it snuffs it out, if oxygen increases maybe it could heat up a pyroelectric element that triggers some sort of electric shutoff? Wouldn’t be something useful today sense we already got all sorts of oxygen sensors, but I could see it being used in some sort of device in the late 1800s early 1900s

[@osmia]

This is the beauty of KZbin. I can watch something like this that is very interesting but I would never in a million years want to try myself. Thanks for uploading

[@alllove1754]

Always a pleasure to see a video from you, Doctor. A genuine pleasure, even if the science is well established understanding.

[@stevecummins324]

Great explanation of how these work. I recall very early in high school chemistry making oxygen from hydrogen peroxide. One way involved adding i think it was potassium permangate. The 2nd more vigorous recation was with crushed up liver, as it contains lots of Peroxodase enzyme. No need for heat or electricity. And was considered safe enough for kids to do etc.

[@Quake120]

I believe you are right that it is hydrogen peroxide + potassium permanganate: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eV7Pe6SinLKCfbs That's a a clip of an old Australian TV show where they demonstrate that reaction.

[@sciencefusion5352]

I request you to make a video on lead dioxide anodes for sulphuric acid production And please make a video how to make sulphuric acid using magnesium sulphate and sodium sulphate using diaphragm methods 😊

[@charletonzimmerman4205]

The US Navy, used this , emergency ,firefighting breathing equipment, on ships called "OBA's" using "ASBESTOS" as a filter, in a canister, on the chest, in a re-breather.

[@MisterRorschach90]

Oh the amazing “pranks” I could pull with this candle.

[@P_RO_]

Proud of Nurd Rage for emphasizing the potential for danger here, as this can get as hot as some forms of thermite so one needs to be VERY careful with it. And to think, each seat in an airliner has one of these stored right over your head...

[@unfathomablyunfathomable]

A couple of rescue workers were saved by this when suffering from CO poisoning after a fire in the Snaefell mine, late 19th century

[@barry7608]

Fascinating thanks, love the chemistry.

[@benruniko]

Yaaaaaay! I love seeing new nerdrage videos popping up!

[@kleetus92]

Good to see you back!

[@garealtours]

Ahh, that explains the Oxygen Breathing Apparatus that the Navy uses for firefighting! Thanks!

[@doomfanboy9413]

imagine having an asthma attack and the school nurse hands you a candle.

[@aga5897]

Nice one Nurdy !

[@PhillyFail]

Hey my feed has been blessed by Nurdrage posting

[@CrazySharp]

The original navy OBA or oxygen breathing device (fire fighting breathing device) used an oxygen candle …

[@KF-16-65]

Cool video, thanks for sharing!

[@christiankirkenes5922]

Hope you had a good Christmas and new years brother

[@mikegLXIVMM]

In the 90s, Berzamatic made a Mapp gas and oxygen torch. To make the oxygen, a mixture of sodium chlorate and what believe manganese dioxide.

[@DemikusYT]

I’ll be honest, I saw the thumbnail and title, brain said “this must be Explosions & Fire” then immediately realized this is not Explosions & Fire, but hey, found a new channel😅

[@scrotiemcboogerballs1981]

Great video thanks for sharing

[@travisphelps3602]

I have an old school torch kit that has a can of oxidizer pucks that go in a chamber after they are lit for the torch o2 supply 💯

[@JintoLin]

Have gone done a wild rabbit hole from seeing a video on US Military News talking about the capabilities of the sub to wondering how you fire missiles underwater into how do these submarines produce O2 under water to finding out about Electrolysis which was not a mild surprise but makes sense to be able to recycle and such but the most mind blowing option of "Oxygen Candles" that produces oxygen through fire...so thanks explaining all of this to me like i am 5 to understand more about how all this works.

[@newmonengineering]

I have always likes potassium per maganate and sugar. Mix together, then mash with lots of friction and it ignites. Its cool because together they are just a mix of powder but ince friction heats and combines they ignite. Something about that is very satisfying

[@abs0lute-zer061]

I knew binging your pyrimethamine playlist might bring you back lmao. JK, but it's a cool coincidence. I'm glad you're making more videos!

[@felixar90]

IIRC, this is how they generate oxygen in Jules Verne's 1865 "From the Earth to the Moon"

[@GhostSenshi]

Oxygen candles are really cool. Essentially what they use on submarines

[@nicholash.7656]

Thank you KZbin for unsubbing me from the channel I've been subbed to for as long as I can remember. Oh my.

[@bubblezovlove7213]

Very interest thanks!

[@christopherleubner6633]

Got a paint can of this stuff in pellets about the size of a hockey puck. It was used for a very old welding torch

[@marzinjedi6437]

I used to have a torch that had a pellet that went into a capsule that would once ignited would create oxygen that would go through a hose and come out of the tip mixing with propane and it would be blue flame about three inches long that could braze nearly anything that could be brazed ! Hot doesn’t even begin to describe how hot it was probably five thousand degrees with the blue flame . Sold ox was the name of this brand product . Or maybe solidox ?

[@casualbird7671]

I find these kinds of fires especially interesting with how they cannot be extinguished

[@spaceminions]

I'm not experienced enough to be sure, but speaking of peroxides, what about using Barium? There was the Brin process of course, and it's neat that no matter whether it reacted with oxygen, water, or carbon dioxide, it'll be regenerated with enough heat. But the thing I wasn't sure about is the bit where barium peroxide is apparently sometimes used to make hydrogen peroxide. Of course, it's easy to get a catalyst that will decompose that readily, such as permanaganate powder, so that's close enough to oxygen. But could you get away without the sulfuric or any acid? I'm not sure which things will form when BaO2 is in water, but if nothing else maybe forming the carbonate with co2 would work if the objective is breathing anyway? That one lithium type of COG worked that way.

[@abcstardust]

Thank you for posting! I had no idea a candle could be made to PRODUCE Oxygen! That’s amazing!!

[@ChristmasEve777]

Another amazing thing involving chemical reactions is that some of them can produce COLD instead of heat. It just floors me that mixing two chemicals can actually absorb heat from the surroundings. I never fully understood it. The oxygen-producing candle is a bit easier for me to comprehend because more oxygen is given off by the reaction than what is used.

[@abcstardust]

These reactions floor me too. Reactions that make cold instead of heat is amazing! An oxygen producing candle can really be helpful in a closed environment.

[@GaiusCaligula234]

​@ChristmasEve777 there is no such things as "producing cold" me old chap

[@mrtechie6810]

​@@GaiusCaligula234the reaction absorbs more heat than it produces.

[@chanm01]

Me: *Takes a big breath of fresh O2* Video: "It also generates some Cl2 as a side-product." Me: "Wait what?"

[@sssbznzn]

Genius

[@Trooner1987]

Suggestion for future video: Try making Tetrataenite in a DIYable form.

[@cetyl2626]

Beisdes compressing you could also try ball milling it.

[@joemackey8859]

The air from the candle tastes like if you flavored popcorn with melted plastic.

[@wdd3141]

Much of the soil on Mars is perchlorates. They're considered toxic, but perhaps they could be used to generate much-needed oxygen.

[@victorlledo6812]

Some suggestion for chemistry and engineering fads, come up with a simple way to generate a chlorate candle in a typical Martian environment (where all the elements are available, there must be some composition tables somewhere since so many people claim that perchlorates presence in Mars make the habitat so toxic) and then someone could come up witha simple machine to build one in Mars with local or transported materials ...

[@BengalGecko]

I'm surprised this doesn't produce small amounts of chlorine gas from decomposition of potassium chlorate...

[@AndrewSteffenHB]

The original chemistry KZbin channel

[@littlehills739]

wrap the sparkler in 2 layers of kitchen foil leaving the top and bottom open to increase the heat. tips sprinkle little on foil with first wrap same prossese for thermite 2 sparklers two layers foil sprinkle therm on foil for 1st lay wrapping

[@stephensteele2844]

After just finishing watching the expanse and lack of oxygen being a huge crisis point across the seasons they really need to carry these in the emergency packs lol

[@ModernVintage33]

Question about the Oxygen meter. Would an automotive wide band lambda sensor and arduino be accurate enough to be worth building? Started watching your content all the way back in 2009 or 10. Almost always learn something new, thanks for making such great easy to digest content!

[@GermanSausagesAreTheWurst]

I'm frugal, but I would pay extra to avoid flying on an airline called "valuejet".

[@HyRkt]

Nice video

[@FiltyIncognito]

Interesting!

[@cda32]

Happy birthday!

[@HyRkt]

Wow been years since i've seen a recommendation

[@ljg5795]

nice

[@MikinessAnalog]

"Okz shun" lol

[@NathanaelNewton]

I'm pretty sure plainly difficult just did a video about the value jet accident.. at least, I just watched it a few days ago

[@Thinktanq2000]

I’ve missed you❤

[@JohnAlot]

Early in the video you mentioned how it caused a fire on "the space station." I immediately knew it had to have been a Soviet station.

[@01Fratricide]

On US subs they were called Chlorite Candles.

[@patrickw9520]

Do rebreathers next 😂

[@Linuxpunk81]

We used o2 candles on the subs I served on when we couldn't come up to ventilate or run the generator because we needed to stay quiet and hidden. Even then they just would barely keep up and I remember having to combine two lighters together just to light up a smoke 😂we would go through 100s of them on deployment.

[@Snarlacc]

Can you put out that reaction once it is self sustaining? My guess only something extremely cold could, though that probably depends on how vigorous the mixture burns.

[@MJTVideos]

I’ve been experimenting with making my own rebreather device and for a while I was considering using oxygen candles like this to provide the oxygen but have since decided against it since these are far too dangerous. A better way of generating oxygen chemically in a much safer way is using sodium percarbonate and manganese dioxide. It yields a good amount of oxygen and is significantly safer. Make sure if you do this you have a bucket of sand or salt because oxygen candle fires are impossible to extinguish so covering them may be necessary. Also do this in a space that isn’t confined or else you could have a potential explosion or severe fires due to O2 concentrations.

[@petevenuti7355]

If you get your iron from "hothands" hand warmers, there may be autoignition!!! Just a heads up.

[@ThePassiton]

Really interesting, would sodium peroxide work aswell?

[@mattharvey8712]

Bravo......sears use to have a welder ........burn tables .....with propane........cheers

[@PlasmaPro8]

5:05 So does Sodium chlorate have more oxygen that potassium chlorate, or can it release it faster?

[@NurdRage]

Yep, more oxygen, speed doesn't really matter, they completely burn pretty quick, you don't want too fast or it's a bomb.

[@PlasmaPro8]

​@@NurdRageOkay, thank you so much!

[@mduckernz]

Sodium has a lower atomic mass than potassium. Consequently, more oxygen

[@jamest.5001]

Awesome,, how about a Co2 Scrubber? Being it's the next thing require in a sub or spacecraft making it possible for humans to survive!

[@TnT_F0X]

oxygen candles are so interesting... I'd buy them not make them though for survival situations

[@swiitmlk]

if i saw this in class i would find it so boring. but searching on my own it's so interesting

[@drewgi7543]

Whilst you weren't able to make a puck, did you try tamping it?

[@MrChainsawAardvark]

The moment I saw the title of this video I thought of the ValuJet crash, and wondered what are the ways to extinguish oxygen candles. Presumably rather than smothering the flames with a chemicals, you'd need a heatsink that lowers the reaction temperature - copper shavings or metal mesh perhaps?

[@Jeffreymart]

Good question

[@danny234555]

I knew they used these in subs, but not on the space station!

[@Pyrokartoffel]

Wouldnt it be better to add some MnO2 to decompose the leftover KClO3 more efficiently at lower temperatures?

[@jordanhess2061]

Can I use perchlorate instead ?

[@WeebRemover4500]

thats the exact same type of strainer i have .......

[@GRosa250]

In the early 1980’s my father bought a small oxygen torch set from Sears. It used a solid oxygen candle and either a propane or mapp gas tank. It was a really bad idea and worked horribly.

[@azido826]

I think mixing potassium permanganate with glycerine get better results with no explosion 💥