[Bioconversion] Fireball Express!

[Geoff Thomas]

Hi Jeff, if it is any help on that question, there is a type of welding used for joining railway
lines together in the old days called thermite welding, where you make a mold (using clay or
other local materials) between the two sections of rail, - in the same shape of course, - and
then fill it with a (I think 50-50)  mixture of iron oxide and powdered aluminium, - the which
you set alight with a magnesium ribbon, - you have to have a bit of a reservoir above... and the
aluminium uses the oxygen in the iron oxide to combust, - apparently at quite high energy levels,
leaving superheated steel, which flows down and between the two railway line ends, - heating the
parent metal to melting point as well, making a permanent join.
So your hearsay of iron oxide powered engine may be based on something.
Interesting how that is similiar to the glowing char removing the extra oxygen from CO2 in a
gasifier, I wonder if there are other such reactions out there just waiting to be remembered.
Cheers,
Geoff.


> Dear Tom et al,
>
>  Speaking of rust (iron oxide?) I read about an engine that used powdered
> metal/iron for fuel. It was on the order of the first diesel engines (air
> injection).
>
>
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
>
> Tom wrote:
>> Dear Jeff and All:
>>
>> My friend and colleague, Agua Das, long ago (~1975, rainbow gathering
>> etc.) discovered used school buses as the cheapest transportation and
>> storage.  He has several in his driveway.  He wanted to park one in my
>> upscale driveway, but Vivian nixed it.
>>
>> Many of you know Das from his attendance at the Aprovecho meeting.  I
>> hope Jeff will get to meet him because they think alike and act alike.
>>
>> Viva the school bus stove lab!
>>
>> TOM REED              BEF
>>
>> Jeff Davis wrote:
>>> Dear All,
>>>
>>> After reading about the "Cheese Mobil" I was inspired to think about the
>>> perfect "Fireball Express" machine. In the past I studied bus
>>> conversions and
>>> came to the conclusion that a school bus was the best choice. Not for an
>>> investment but machine wise. Lots of machine for the money. One of the
>>> safest
>>> machines on the road. Think of it as a mid sized SUV. I can't ride/drive
>>> in a
>>> car/jeep for over 50 miles and I no longer trust aviation flights.
>>>
>>> But now, a school bus is affordable and safe. The engine in the front is
>>> good
>>> for those head on collisions and easy to work on. A school bus would
>>> also
>>> have lots of room to mount your gasifier devices. Plenty of room for a
>>> hammer, vise-grips, duct-tape, mechanics wire, gas torch/welder, etc.
>>> Heck,
>>> you could also have room for the cement mixer. Don't forget the sawdust
>>> bucket yak-ster!
>>>
>>> Of course we would be fueled with paper fireballs. Room for bags and
>>> bags and
>>> bags of corkey paper fireballs. Also room on the roof for more bags of
>>> fireballs. Now get this!! We start down the road with all these bags of
>>> corkey fireballs but when we stop at a burger joint we tell them that
>>> Frank
>>> could not make it and we are here to drain the WVO tank (think fuel
>>> reformer). Now we have all this WVO to soak into our corkey fireballs!!!
>>> Well, that is if that will work in a down draft gasifier. We could
>>> really
>>> extent the range of those corkey fireballs..... Think about it....
>>>
>>> But it gets better. We also need a RV cook stove. So why not use the
>>> Woodgas
>>> Camp Stove. How about the sweet little Bisschop engine to run the
>>> generator
>>> and heat the Fireball Express? Hey, this Fireball Express could be a
>>> mobile
>>> producer-gas demo machine!
>>>
>>>
>>> Your bioconversion friend,
>>>
>>>
>>> Jeff
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Jeff Davis
>
> Some where 20 miles south of Lake Erie, USA
>
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