james
join:2001-02-26
antarctica
| reply to jc100
Re: Farmers launching hydrogen?
Stop waving your fancy high school edumacashun in our faces!
No, but seriously, you're getting pretty worked up for nothing. There obviously is a danger with even pure helium if the balloons are torn or drift somewhere they shouldn't.
Just because the hydrogen isn't mixed with oxygen at the moment, that ignores the fact that if the thin skin of the balloon tears there is an IMMEDIATE source of oxygen, and depending on where this tear occurrs, there may be an ignition source nearby.
Luckily the only real danger is to the farmers who are probably smoking while filling the "flyin internets robots" up. |
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jc100
join:2002-04-10
1 edit | Actually, the guy was being a jerk about it =) So I had to school him. As per the rip, it's unlikely All three elements would come together. Seriously, there'd have to be a tear in the balloon and a spark to ignite it once oxygen and hydrogen mixed. That's pretty unlikely. I guess if lightning struck it, that MIGHT be possible, but highly improbable. Anyhow, the risk to the farmer is minimal unless he or she is DUMB ENOUGH to be smoking while launching said balloons (as per your comment). In that case, yes, you might have Hindenburg and a toasty farmer pending a sizable leak was present and enough hydrogen and oxygen mixed. Once again, it would be HIGHLY UNLIKELY for such an event to occur. |
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james
join:2001-02-26
antarctica
1 edit | I'm not sure how much hydrogen they have left in them when they come down, but if it's enough to cause some damage I'd be worried about it getting snagged on high tension power lines, tearing and an arc happening (how does hydrogen compare to air as a conductor?) or doing the same in one of those outdoor power distribution places.
I do think all of us must agree that if it blew up in the air (doesnt matter how), the most dangerous part would be the falling payload and not the explosion itself. |
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jc100
join:2002-04-10
| Pretty much. I'm not a scientist, I just remember College physics where I learned this stuff. Amazing I remember it, too. I guess I did pay attention, and this useless knowledge stays with you. As per the risk, yes its minimal. I mean all and all, there would have to be a lot of misfortune for such a disaster to occur. The biggest risk would be from the payload falling and striking someone or something. I mean I am sure that MAYBE one of these balloons can be under the rare conditions to explode. Most likely, it'd happen in the air as you said. If the balloon deflated and landed on a power line, I suspect it'd be fine. I am no expert but I THINK (and I might be wrong because I'm not the electrician in the family), that power lines themselves are not charged unless said wires are exposed. IE, what we see on the lines are wires within insulation. Therefore, the balloon would have to land or break a powerline, for such an event to occur. Being I doubt they are heavy, this is very unlikely. |
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james
join:2001-02-26
antarctica
| High tension power lines are not insulated, but the lines are kept very far apart to protect from arcing. A great number of the older residential area power lines have the insulation sloughing off, the leads going to the transformers (they look like garbage cans) are often exposed as well. It would be easier than you think to get a nice arc out of them, especially on a windy day, with something wrapped around them. |
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Yauch
join:2005-06-24 | reply to jc100
Don't forget the fact that all 3 would have an extremely short window of time to come togther. |
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