Does Anyone Remember An Oxyweld?

terrywerm said:
So my question to all of you chemistry majors out there is this: Just what can you burn that produces excess oxygen as it burns??
Click to expand...
I'll take a guess. It's likely a mixture of an excess of something highly oxygenated and just enough fuel to get it burning. WAY back when, I recall hearing about sodium chlorate and sugar being mixed for bootleg rocket fuel. If you made it with a whole lot of excess sodium chlorate, you'd have a mixture that would burn, and the heat of the reaction would break the excess sodium chlorate down into sodium chloride and oxygen.

I really have no idea if this is the actual chemistry used in SolidOx pellets, but it's probably something similar. I AM sure they did a whole bunch of R&D, to get something that would light reliably, not burn too fast, liberate the right amount of oxygen at the right rate, etc. etc. etc. I'd strongly advise against amateurish experimentation!
 
Trust me, experimentation was not on my mind! I was just curious about what material might create oxygen when burned. On the other hand, it is probably a good idea that you advised against experimentation, as other readers might have other ideas!
 
Well there goes my saturday morning plans!! LOL

Sent from somewhere in East Texas Jake Parker
 
Solidox pellets were made of chloric acid, sodium salt; (sodium chlorate). VERY bad stuff to mess with.

KEEP FROM CONTACT WITH SPARKS, IMPACT, ABRASION/ANY OTHER
SOURCE OF HEAT. DO NOT SMOKE WHEN HANDLING. DO NOT DROP, KEEP AWAY FROM MOISTURE.

Health Hazards Acute and Chronic:IRRITATION OR BURNING SENSATION TO
EYES, SKIN, NOSE & THROAT. ABDOMINAL PAIN, NAUSEA & DIARRHEA.
Explanation of Carcinogenicity:NOT RELEVANT
Effects of Overexposure:SEE HEALTH HAZARDS.
Medical Cond Aggravated by Exposure:EYE OR SKIN DISEASES, BREATHING OR
RESPIRATORY DISORDERS, DIGESTIVE TRACT, KIDNEY & BLOOD DISORDERS
WOULD BE AGGRAVATED BY EXPOSURE TO THIS CHEMICAL.

(From MSDS)
 
The pellets burned in an enclosed tube with a filter and just one outlet. That probably controlled the burn rate by eliminating any outside oxygen from the reaction. I remember different length pellets with different burn times. You could stack pellets for a longer burn time if there was space in the tube.

If the pellets were cheap and easily available, the kits would probably still be around today. Another possibility for their disappearance could be that since the pellets were pretty reactive, shippers would no longer haul them. I know the Post Office won't handle anything like that, and neither will airlines.

GG
 
Since the reaction is generating oxygen, there is no need for excess oxygen.

From wikipedea:
"A chlorate candle, or an oxygen candle, is a cylindrical chemical oxygen generator that contains a mix of sodium chlorate and iron powder, which when ignited smolders at about 600 °C (1,112 °F), producing sodium chloride, iron oxide, and at a fixed rate about 6.5 man-hours of oxygen per kilogram of the mixture. The mixture has an indefinite shelf life if stored properly: candles have been stored for 20 years without decreased oxygen output. Thermal decomposition releases the oxygen. The burning iron supplies the heat. The candle must be wrapped in thermal insulation to maintain the reaction temperature and to protect surrounding equipment."

Apparently a similar reaction the the typical source of oxygen for drop down masks in planes.
 
I remember OXWELD from my childhood. Grand dad had a set and tried several times to "repair" things with it that simply didn't hold.
 
terrywerm said:
Wow. I had one also, still have it in fact. Paid $25 for it. Was never able to find any more of the pellets, though. Like others, I found that it worked rather well for brazing, but for cutting or welding it was disappointing.

So my question to all of you chemistry majors out there is this: Just what can you burn that produces excess oxygen as it burns??
Click to expand...

Several oxidizers release oxygen in the presence of heat. That's how solid rocket propellants work. If you mix an excess of one of those oxidizers with a fuel, the heat generated by the fuel burning in the presence of the oxidizer results in a release of excess oxygen. The trick is in releasing the oxygen at a relatively slow rate. I still have my SolidOx, although as someone else did I replaced the solid oxidizer with a medical O2 tank. The SolidOx pellets were potassium chlorate. We use Ammonium Perchlorate as an oxidizer for solid rocket motors, although many other oxidizers have been used, such as ammonium nitrate and potassium nitrate.
 
terrywerm said:
Wow. I had one also, still have it in fact. Paid $25 for it. Was never able to find any more of the pellets, though. Like others, I found that it worked rather well for brazing, but for cutting or welding it was disappointing.

So my question to all of you chemistry majors out there is this: Just what can you burn that produces excess oxygen as it burns??
Click to expand...
Sodium chlorate. I had one of the Solidox sets. What I recall is that the O2 candles burned unevenly so it was impossible to maintain a constant flame.
 
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