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| daccel |
 Posted: 11/09/2007 15:18 PM Post subject: Electric steam cannon? |
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Sergeant
Joined: 11 Oct 2007
Posts: 85
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| Just had an idea today about using an electric arc to vaporize water creating steam pressure that would propel the projectile. Not sure if this is possible, didn't see it discussed yet on here...any thoughts? |
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| iknowmy3tables |
| Posted: 11/09/2007 15:34 PM Post subject: |
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Brigadier General
Joined: 15 Dec 2006
Posts: 1145
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uhm an arc of electricity in water would ether be short circuited, or if it was distilled it would slowly separate into hydrogen and oxygen and become highly explosive and dangerous
yes steam guns have been made, but a better heat source than an arc would be a electric heating coil, which would take a decent amount of time to heat up
I'd still prefer propane because its faster and usually hotter |
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| Necrosis |
| Posted: 11/09/2007 15:38 PM Post subject: |
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2nd Lieutenant
Joined: 03 Jul 2007
Posts: 208
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This is extremely unpractical but it does work, yes.
On the other hand, you could use a fraction of the energy to convert the water into oxygen and hydrogen..
*edit* Mister Iknowmy3tables, in fact it won't short circuit since you'd need a capacitor as large as a soda bottle anyway, and as far as i know, capacitors don't short circuit. 
Edit two!
What you'll want is a low voltage, fast discharging beefy capacitor. (low voltage will heat the water up more but not too low, or it will just not flow at all.)
And pretty much distilled water. (distilled water is actually an insulator according to my physics book)
Last edited by Necrosis on 11/09/2007 15:47 PM; edited 1 time in total |
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| jackssmirkingrevenge |
| Posted: 11/09/2007 15:46 PM Post subject: |
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space monkey
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
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Surely you meant Electric steam kettle?
Generating instantaneous steam is impractical, the best steam guns generate pressure in a boiler the release it with a valve in the manner of ordinary pneumatics. |
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| daccel |
| Posted: 11/09/2007 16:04 PM Post subject: |
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Sergeant
Joined: 11 Oct 2007
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Well I got the idea from seeing exploding wires with capacitors http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxeUV7CXrlI, and assumed water conducted electricity and might do something similar. Maybe wire in water? I guess it's probably one of those things where you can get better performance in a smaller package using existing methods. Still might be a fun experiment  . |
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| iknowmy3tables |
| Posted: 11/09/2007 16:23 PM Post subject: |
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Brigadier General
Joined: 15 Dec 2006
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pumping electricity through tap water maybe it will heat the water a little but it will short circuit your power supply,
its not the same the whole exploding wire thing works because air is not a conductor and when its forced through that resistance it generates heat
tap water is a conductor so it will heat your power supply up and fry most of the parts
its the same reason why this black powder http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/sparks/sparks.html wont ignite no resistance no heat
but say iodized or distilled water isn't a conductor but it still won't work because most of the energy in the charge is going to separating the H2O in an electrolysis reaction |
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| jon_89 |
| Posted: 11/09/2007 21:28 PM Post subject: |
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Colonel
Joined: 11 Apr 2007
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| what about using the heat from a resistor? |
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| Novacastrian |
| Posted: 11/09/2007 21:32 PM Post subject: |
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Bloody Aussie
Joined: 11 Aug 2007
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| jon_89 wrote: | | what about using the heat from a resistor? |
Because that would reduce efficiency to about .05% |
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| _Fnord |
| Posted: 11/10/2007 8:18 AM Post subject: |
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reenigne
Joined: 13 Feb 2007
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| Just tear apart a cheap coffee machine... use the heating element. |
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| DYI |
| Posted: 11/10/2007 9:28 AM Post subject: |
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Rear Brigadier
Joined: 07 Jul 2007
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| Fire is usually the best way to heat steam guns of any kind. The more fire the better. It would be good to go for high pressure and low volume, since you can use a smaller heat source (i.e. blowtorch). I may try a 1000 psi steam gun some day, but something tells me that that day is still quite a long way away. |
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| daccel |
| Posted: 11/10/2007 9:30 AM Post subject: |
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Sergeant
Joined: 11 Oct 2007
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| Nah, I don't want to replicate one of the steam guns that's been done, I thought there might be a way to make the water explode instantly, but if it sounds too good to be true..haha. |
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| DYI |
| Posted: 11/10/2007 9:33 AM Post subject: |
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Rear Brigadier
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| MIT found a way to do it. 3500 psi steam with simple materials, no boiler, and less than 2 minutes reload time. Don't give up on this, because it can be done somehow, you just need to find a way. |
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| Necrosis |
| Posted: 11/10/2007 9:59 AM Post subject: |
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2nd Lieutenant
Joined: 03 Jul 2007
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| iknowmy3tables wrote: |
but say iodized or distilled water isn't a conductor but it still won't work because most of the energy in the charge is going to separating the H2O in an electrolysis reaction |
Wich would create even more pressure, though. |
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| DYI |
| Posted: 11/10/2007 10:02 AM Post subject: |
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Rear Brigadier
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| Quote: | | Wich would create even more pressure, though. |
Along with a stoichiometric mix of pure O2 and H2 which has a lower ignition energy than oxy-acetylene and is very prone to detonations. |
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| _Fnord |
| Posted: 11/10/2007 10:05 AM Post subject: |
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reenigne
Joined: 13 Feb 2007
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| Quote: | | MIT found a way to do it. 3500 psi steam with simple materials, no boiler, and less than 2 minutes reload time. Don't give up on this, because it can be done somehow, you just need to find a way. |
Oh wait... DUH. I feel stupid for not thinking of how they did it earlier.
Anyone ever seen distilled watter is a microwave? It doesn't boil if it is left completely still, but when you touch it, it explodes. That may be how it was done. |
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