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Compressed air instead of oxygen (oxy/acyt)
- Thread starter bran1har
- Start date
JMcFly
Well-known member
Seeing as the air we breathe is mostly nitrogen it probably won't do you any good( 78% nitrogen, 20% oxygen with the rest being argon carbon dioxide, neon, etc etc). Oxy/acetylene torches use pure oxygen which is incredibly flammable.
pure oxygen which is incredibly flammable.
Ummm... No, Oxygen is not at all flamable.
Any single tank torch utilizes air for it's flame, no need to keep a tank full around. Just try to light the oxy 1st before the acetylene, it won't burn by itself. Oxygen is not a fuel it only supports burning and helps the other fuels reach very high temperatures.
TheGrooveking
Well-known member
It will not work if you are looking to use the torch for the same functions, the problem is the mixture between fuel and oxidizer, so based on the small percentage of oxygen in compressed air will equate to producing only 1/5 or less the amount of actual heat otherwise the mixture will run rich, actually it may become too rich and flood out. The other potential is a fire ball output that would not be concentrated or directional.
TheGrooveking
TheGrooveking
rsanter
Well-known member
Would require a special torch, they make them.
They are the single tank systems and do not get as hot
Bob
They are the single tank systems and do not get as hot
Bob
Chuck122
Well-known member
In order to have a flame, you need fuel oxygen and a source of ignition. The air we breathe contains about 20% oxygen. Quite bluntly, the pressurised oxygen in a typical torch setup (except for cutting) allows you to burn more fuel with a proper ox./fuel ratio than you could by simply feeding air to your flame. So basically, you could use regular air but, you would need a different torch and different pressures, wich would give you a far inferior Heat output. Now for cutting, even if you reached the kindling temperature, you would not be able to oxydise and cut the iron.
rlitman
Well-known member
Fuel, in the presence of pure oxygen will burn very fast. That high flame velocity is what keeps the flame on a welding tip from blowing out. It burns back towards the tip just as fast as the gas exits.
Switch that oxygen to air (hypothetically), and the flame velocity will drop dramatically. The gas comes out, the fuel burns, but the flame gets pushed away from the tip, and blows out.
Now just to be clear, DO NOT TRY THIS! Blowing compressed air into an oxy-acetylene torch is a horrible idea, because compressed air may carry contaminants and oils that can explode when oxygen is put into the system.
Switch that oxygen to air (hypothetically), and the flame velocity will drop dramatically. The gas comes out, the fuel burns, but the flame gets pushed away from the tip, and blows out.
Now just to be clear, DO NOT TRY THIS! Blowing compressed air into an oxy-acetylene torch is a horrible idea, because compressed air may carry contaminants and oils that can explode when oxygen is put into the system.
AndyA
Well-known member
Ummm... No, Oxygen is not at all flamable.
Correct, but it does make just about everything else very flammable, including steel.
Steel is flammable?!?!?!? In the presence of 100% oxygen, yes! That's how the cutting torch works. So oxygen is a big fire risk.
...Now just to be clear, DO NOT TRY THIS! Blowing compressed air into an oxy-acetylene torch is a horrible idea, because compressed air may carry contaminants and oils that can explode when oxygen is put into the system.
Agreed. The low pressure oxygen downstream from your regulator probably won't cause the oil to self-ignite, but if you ever do get the oil contaminated oxygen hose up to ignition temperature WATCH OUT!!!! BAD IDEA! DON'T DO IT!
Your best bet is to just buy the oxygen bottle (roughly $1 per cubic foot around here) and use the torch as designed.
If you're interested in general heating, and you aren't trying to weld or cut metal. Use a large air/propane torch. You can fairly easily get steel in the red-hot temperature (hotter with a furnace to preserve the heat). Propane is readily available, safer to handle (doesn't self-ignite at more than 15psi, lower range of flammable mixtures in air), and is cheap compared to acetylene.
ex-x-fire
Well-known member
I worked at a place once that had an oxygen marker (i don't know what else to call it), it was hooked up to the air compressor & the head unt was plugged in to an outlet, for gas they used natural gas. Wasn't the best set up, but it did work ok.
greatbigphil
New member
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2015
- Messages
- 2
I just ran out of oxygen so I'm gonna give it a shot
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Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk
1950mercury
Well-known member
I just ran out of oxygen so I'm gonna give it a shot
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Good luck....
BUDSVTX
Well-known member
Reading all the responses to the question, several actually got it correct. O2 is not flammable, it promotes combustion. Oil, oil vapor or even the natural oil on your hands will combine with O2 and ignite. Anything can combust in concentrations of O2. All parts that are in the presence of 100% O2 must be black lighted to insure it is oil free and free of any particles. Regulators, valves, fittings must be built of correct materials. Then there is adiabatic compression, which occurs when you go from high pressure (O2 cylinder) to low pressure (O2 regulator), this is why you open O2 cylinders slowly. Do a little research on O2 and you will be amazed at how hazardous O2 is and wonder how more people don't get hurt dealing with O2.
http://www.serto.com/fileadmin/serto/PDF_Dateien/5_Tech_Infos/TEC_DOK_Sauerstoff_en.pdf
BUD
http://www.serto.com/fileadmin/serto/PDF_Dateien/5_Tech_Infos/TEC_DOK_Sauerstoff_en.pdf
BUD
greatbigphil
New member
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2015
- Messages
- 2
I've got one. And a forge. I like using a torch for bending smaller stock and for brazingOf coarse just buy a plasma cutter and do away with both tanks.
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The temp of the flame will be much lower.
The Acety is the only source of energy. This energy heats the oxy and acety and one ends up with a certain flame temp. If lots of nitrogen (from air) is also in the mix, the energy has to heat that up too.
The Acety is the only source of energy. This energy heats the oxy and acety and one ends up with a certain flame temp. If lots of nitrogen (from air) is also in the mix, the energy has to heat that up too.
dr_clyde
Well-known member
This will not work. DO NOT do this. If you want to get away from having two cylinders, a plumber's air acetylene torch is designed for this, and is only good for minor brazing and heating.
An oxy-acetylene torch is designed for both gases, and damage or injury can result from doing this incorrectly. Not to mention the pure oxygen is REQUIRED for cutting. This is how they work, the acetylene flame only serves to heat the metal to the kindling temperature for the oxygen jet.
An oxy-acetylene torch is designed for both gases, and damage or injury can result from doing this incorrectly. Not to mention the pure oxygen is REQUIRED for cutting. This is how they work, the acetylene flame only serves to heat the metal to the kindling temperature for the oxygen jet.