X-Message-Number: 8197 Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 09:00:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Doug Skrecky <> Subject: To build a fire... with liquid oxygen Not much relevance to cryonics aside from the liquid oxygen bit, but I have a feeling the humour might be appreciated here. -Doug ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >LIGHTING CHARCOAL GRILLS or WHY ENGINEERS ARE THE WAY THEY ARE... > > Our subject today is lighting charcoal grills. One of our > favorite charcoal grill lighters is a guy named George Goble > (really!!), a computer person in the Purdue University > engineering department. Each year, Goble and a bunch of other > engineers hold a picnic in West Lafayette, Indiana, at which > they cook hamburgers on a big grill. Being engineers, they began > looking for practical ways to speed up the charcoal-lighting > process. "We started by blowing the charcoal with a hair dryer," > Goble told me in a telephone interview. "Then we figured out > that it would light faster if we used a vacuum cleaner." > > If you know anything about (1) engineers and (2) guys in > general, you know what happened: The purpose of the > charcoal-lighting shifted from cooking hamburgers to seeing how > fast they could light the charcoal. > > From the vacuum cleaner, they escalated to using a propane > torch, then an acetylene torch. Then Goble started using > compressed pure oxygen, which caused the charcoal to burn much > faster, because as you recall from chemistry class, fire is > essentially the rapid combination of oxygen with a reducing > agent (the charcoal). We discovered that a long time ago, > somewhere in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers > (or something along those lines). > > By this point, Goble was getting pretty good times. But in the > world of competitive charcoal lighting, "pretty good" does not > cut the mustard. > > Thus, Goble hit upon the idea of using - get ready - liquid > oxygen. This is the form of oxygen used in rocket engines; it's > 295 degrees below zero and 600 times as dense as regular oxygen. > In terms of releasing energy, pouring liquid oxygen on charcoal > is the equivalent of throwing a live squirrel into a room > containing 50 million Labrador retrievers. > > On Gobel's Web page (the address is http://ghg.ecn.purdue.edu/), > you can see actual photographs and a video of Goble using a > bucket attached to a 10-foot-long wooden handle to dump 3 > gallons of liquid oxygen (not sold in stores) onto a grill > containing 60 pounds of charcoal and a lit cigarette for > ignition. What follows is the most impressive charcoal-lighting > I have ever seen, featuring a large fireball that according to > Goble, reached 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The charcoal was ready > for cooking in - this has to be a world record - 3 seconds. > There's also a photo of what happened when Goble used the same > technique on a flimsy $2.88 discount-store grill. All that's > left is a circle of charcoal with a few shreds of metal in it. > "Basically, the grill vaporized," said Goble. "We were thinking > of returning it to the store for a refund." > > Looking at Goble's video and photos, I became, as an American, > all choked up with gratitude at the fact that I do not live > anywhere near the engineers' picnic site. But also, I was proud > of my country for producing guys who can be ready to barbecue in > less time than it takes for guys in less-advanced nations, such > as France, to spit. Will the 3-second barrier ever be broken? > Will engineers come up with a new, more powerful > charcoal-lighting technology? It's something for all of us to > ponder this summer as we sit outside, chewing our hamburgers, > every now and then glancing in the direction of West Lafayette, > Indiana, looking for a mushroom cloud. > >Engineers are like that. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=8197