OT__For All Tesco PBW Games Playing and hosting

tbontob · #1 May 28th, 2003, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tesco samoa:
If so, it sounds like someone forgot to call their municipality to find out the location of the cables before they dug.

Ha! it is the municipality that is digging

Ahhh...the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.

Fyron · #2 May 29th, 2003, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Phoenix-D:
Look at it this way- they just hit the phone cables. Could have been worse.

-glances down at the "Warning: underground Hydrogen Pipeline" signs at school-

Oh no, it will release hydrogen and water will form! Not that! Hydrogen is nowhere near as dangerous as people make it out to be. The Hindenburg and other dirigibles created a very bad impression in the public's eye about hydrogen power...

[ May 30, 2003, 19:39: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

tbontob · #3 May 29th, 2003, 12:51 AM

Last time I heard, hydrogen in a confined space with oxygen is extremely explosive.

And you do get water or rather water vapour:

2H2 + O2 = 2H2O

if I remember my chemistry of many years ago.

[ May 29, 2003, 00:06: Message edited by: tbontob ]

Katchoo · #4 May 29th, 2003, 12:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
Oh no, it will release hydrogen and water will form! Not that! Hydrogen is nowhere near as dangerous as people make it out to be. The Lindenburg (is that even the right name? I forget....) and other dirigibles created a very bad impression in the public's eye about hydrogen power...

Close...

It was the Hindenburg. Lindenburg (or was it just Lindburg) was the name of a pilot who's child was kidnapped.

Or so my garbled history recalls...

tbontob · #5 May 29th, 2003, 12:58 AM

Yeh, I think you are right, it was the Hindenburg.

I think the reason the Hindenburg did not explode was because it was not in a confined space and oxygen was not mixed with the hydrogen.

As the hydrogen and the oxygen were separated, the burning essentially took place on the periphery and moved inwards as the oxygen moved inwards.

Also air is only about 20% (21%?) oxygen, it is diluted and the rate of burning is much reduced than if it was pure oxygen.

Phoenix-D · #6 May 29th, 2003, 03:18 AM

Fryon: and release a bit of heat, just incidently.

At the least it would be a heck of a lot more expensive to repair, heh.

teal · #7 May 29th, 2003, 12:51 PM

Yes, Hydrogen combines with Oxygen to make water and release heat. If you have ever held a match near gasoline you may have noticed that gasoline tends to do the same sort of thing... (making water and carbon dioxide in this case). Fyron is still correct when noting that Hydrogen is not as risky as the public percieves it to be (bad risk assesment, at the time dirigible travel was probably safer than airplane travel which was still in its infancy). I would tend to argue that the Hindenberg got played up in the press at the time bc/ dirigible technology was backed by the Germans and German/US relations were on their way down in the run up to World War II. This misperception that hydrogen is horribly dangereous is unfortunately still with us.