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Methane "factory" design

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 8:26 am
by Demon
Seem if i cant use combustion spudguns(my parents wont let me)
i thinked of a way to make your own propellant:

1.You put any sort of biodegradable matier(like too old potatos or leafs)

2.You wait 2-3 days

3. you put the hand pump hose* on the schreader valve and fill your spudgun trough a ball valve

The methane will be under pressure(like 4-5 psi) and will exit by the hand pump hose(maybe using a oil pump wil drag more methane out)

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 8:44 am
by mark.f
Why not crap? Cow crap has been fabled as a good medium for the bacterium that produce methane.

Of course, I'm not quite sure this is going to work, I'm just laughing at the thought of you trying to gather up cow crap and produce methane. :P For one, if the pressure got high enough and produces enough methane, you'd have a limited species of bacterium in the sample due to the elevated pressure and decreased oxygen content, which would cut off production significantly. You've got to remember that these are living things you're trying to get to work for you... they've got to be comfortable with plenty of food.

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 8:46 am
by Demon
Try this at home Mark:

put leafs in a Super C bag and close it(make shure there is not a lot of air in the bag)

wait 2-3 days and your bag will be much bigger and filled with methane
Plz dont put poo
...

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 9:21 am
by Hotwired
It's not uncommon for livestock producers to have their own biogas generator to run things on.

Basically a large underground pit where the slurry goes and and a large space above it for the gas to collect and be piped off.

I'm not diggin this home brew system. Not unless you're after one shot a week or similar. A decent flammable spray could be bought for the cost of those materials.

Besides, if you're not allowed to make a combustion, this isn't going to help much.

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:03 am
by starman
It's a fool's errand...total waste of time and resources...methane concentrations will vary...inconsistency and gnashing of teeth will ensue.

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:08 am
by Demon
It's a fool's errand...total waste of time and resources...methane concentrations will vary...inconsistency and gnashing of teeth will ensue.




thanks to encourage me...

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 11:25 am
by jook13
it may not be the most practical idea, but why not try it just to say that you can.

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 11:41 am
by Lentamentalisk
I honestly don't see how a methane powered spudgun isn't a combustion spudgun... If your parents don't want you making a combustion spudgun, then they probably don't want you making a combustion spudgun. You could sneak a can of hairspray much more easily than a pipe of leaves and your whole contraption, and still get much more reliable results.

Or, just make a pneumatic... thats what everyone else does when they get tired of combustions...

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:00 pm
by Demon
Or, just make a pneumatic... thats what everyone else does when they get tired of combustions...
I already have 6 pneumatic spudguns...

I only thinked of that for people who can do combustions...

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:50 pm
by rp181
lol, it would be easier to tap the main gas line in your house (im saying do it)

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:15 pm
by jimmy101
The tricky part of this approach will be getting the proper fuel to air ratio. Methane's combustion limits in air are 5-15%. Outside that range and the mixture won't ignite.

Like Starman said "... gnashing of teeth will ensue" when the gun won't fire because of the bad mixture.

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:15 pm
by DYI
I've got an absolutely brilliant idea that will save you the great amounts of pain and suffering that your methane idea will bring: go to a hardware store, and buy a propane torch (if you don't already have one, which you should). Unscrew the bent pipe attached to the valve (use BIG wrenches), and screw in a compression-to-NPT adapter fitting with teflon tape on the threads (compression thread side in the valve outlet).

There's no way that your parents could prevent you from going to the hardware store and buying such a thing, and a combustion gun running on methane is no different than a combustion gun running on propane (except it isn't quite as powerful, all other things being equal).

Building a biogas generator is quite a monstrous (and unnecessary) endeavour when the same results can be achieved with a bottled gaseous hydrocarbon and a little bit of trickery. You could disguise it as a CO<sub>2</sub> cylinder. If your parents know so little about these things that they think you're safer making pneumatics, I doubt they'd be able to tell what any of the plumbing does, much less notice the difference between a propane tank outlet valve and meter and a CO<sub>2</sub> tank outlet valve and fill system.

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:17 pm
by rp181
try and explain why a combustion is safer.

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:36 pm
by SEAKING9006
rp181 wrote:try and explain why a combustion is safer.
You may wish to look here. Combustions are far safer than pneumatics.

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:37 pm
by Demon
try and explain why a combustion is safer.
NO WAYYY...

i already madded an topic for that but my parents dont want that's all! and i dont really want to make combustions, pneumatics are more powerful.