Brown's Gas torch?

[Kalera]

Anyone aware of glassworkers using Brown's Gas? I'm intrigued by the possibilities, and I'd love to talk to anyone who'd tried it.

[Kalera]

Also known as "Water gas" and "Aquygen"... anyone? Anyone?

[Cosmo]

I've used one for soldering and welding, but never for glass. From what I remember it was very hot. It would probably be too hot for glass.

I know Andrew Brown had talked about using hydrogen fuel on a glass torch and said it was like a laser and burned through most everything he tried to use.

[ArtcoInc]

The basic idea behind Brown's Gas is to break water down to Hydrogen and Oxygen, then using the two resulting gases to run a torch (or engine, or ...)

Hydrogen is often used in scientific glassblowing for working quartz. It's clean, and it's HOT! I think I'd agree with Cosmo in that it would probably be way too hot for soft glass.

Malcolm

[Dale M.]

Subject was brought up here...

http://www.thegldg.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12504

Once you sift through all the BS there is some pertinent information...

Dale

[ArtcoInc]

Subject was brought up here...

http://www.thegldg.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12504

Once you sift through all the BS there is some pertinent information...

Dale

Yea, a LOT of BS in there (lol) ....

But, bottom line, on the small scale (like this), it costs more to extract the Hydrogen and Oxygen that if you just buy the stuff. And, most systems are too small to run one of our torches (even little torches).

So .... yea, there ya have it.

Malcolm

[Kalera]

Hmmm that was a vaguely interesting thread, pretty much just a rehash of all the other discussion threads about Brown's Gas on the web. No doubt that the company that makes Aquygen is a scam... the guy's trying to repackage something old as something new :rolleyes:.

I'll email Andrew and see what he has to say about his experience with HHO. My main interest is that, since it burns VERY hot, it might work for glass... using a specialized torch that diffuses the flame. The small torches that come with the Watertorch are far too focused for our work.

I have been talking to a guy in Washington who has plans for building the machines, based on Yull Brown's design. It's definitely something I'd want to try before I build... but I was wondering if anyone else had tried it already! Especially if it's something that calls for building a specialized torch.

[Dale M.]

I think one drawback is the amount of energy (electrical) needed to produce the amount of gas needed to supporting a "glass" torch may be the deciding factor. The hardware may be unwieldy and the cost of operation may be more to run the torch than the heat gained over cost of running oxy/fuel.

Dale

[Kalera]

Good point. Here are the specs on a larger machine...

• 200 to 260 VAC compatible
• 45 to 65 Hertz (Hz) compatible
• 8 - 24 Amps (user selectable)
• 3 Watthours per liter of gas produced
• 8 psig (0.5624 Kg/cm2) pressure
• 0 - 1200 liters per hour on demand

Barracuda fuel consumption specs:
Full flame gas consumption: 9 cu. ft./hr (239 l/hr); oxygen: 42 cu. ft./hr. (1192 l/hr)

I don't see any reason, if the specs are accurate, that a machine that large would be necessary, so I would most likely be building a 110 vac model because I don't feel like rewiring my studio AGAIN! This is making the assumption that the oxygen provided by the machine is adequate.

Of course the inner flame on a Barracuda only takes about 170 l/hr. That means that if I were running that particular machine, 90% of the time I would be operating it at about a seventh of its potential... at 3 watthours per liter, that doesn't seem like it's much more expensive than the oxygen concentrators I am currently using, which aren't terribly expensive to run either. Unless I'm missing something major and obvious... please feel free to point out my error, if so!

Of course, whether it *works* for what I want to do is still the question...