Could be why they dont use/build Zeppelins any more, use Helium much safer. The Zeppelin caught fire in a thunderstorm.
ronaldo8,
Jun 27, 5:59am
Most likely scenario was a spark caused by static charge on its skin leaping between it and its frame, the mooring ropes attached to that frame are thought to have acted as grounds seeing as the fire ignited just as they hit the ground. That is if it's the Hindenburg you mean. People are still arguing the toss on that one.
The Hindenburg fire was most likely caused by its flammable envelope. The doped canvas burned very easily. The hydrogen won't burn by itself, it needs to have an oxygen mixture. The gas bags were pure hydrogen so can't just burn it explode, and the gas tends to float away pretty quick if there is any leaks.
Helium is way more expensive and much heavier. It is only produced by radioactive decay and tends to escape out of the atmosphere I think when it leaks.
ronaldo8,
Jun 27, 7:49am
That was the cause was it? the envelope. It just spontaneously combusted I suppose.
tygertung,
Jun 27, 8:14am
Yeah, really terrible for fire the old skins. Of course once the envelope was well under way with the fire, it can cause issues with the gas bags.
ronaldo8,
Jun 27, 8:56am
So you do actually think they just ignited all by themselves. ? Is that what you are saying?
Definitely issues with gas bags, there can be little doubt of that. In this case hydrogen rather than hot air.
tygertung,
Jun 27, 9:30am
No the skin caught on fire, and then after that was ablaze the gas bags caught on fire after that I believe
apollo11,
Jun 27, 9:46am
Greater minds than yours have considered the facts and decided that hydrogen (in airships) is just not worth the risk. End of story.
ronaldo8,
Jun 27, 10:11am
Right, so not the cause of the fire at all, just a part of the blaze itself.
Methanol is highly flammable and toxic. Direct ingestion of more than 10mL can cause permanent blindness by destruction of the optic nerve, poisoning of the central nervous system, coma and possibly death. These hazards are also true if methanol vapors are inhaled."
https://www.msdsonline.com/2014/07/22/methanol-safety-tips-from-msds-experts/ Notice that the drag racers using methanol fuel in their cars wear respirator masks? It is to prevent them from becoming poisoned. "Toxicity effects from repeated over exposure have an accumulative effect on the central nervous system, especially the optic nerve – Symptoms may be delayed, become severe after 12 to 18 hours, and linger for several days after exposure[9]"
Seeing as it exposure has an accumulative effect, I think that it is not the best option.
intrade,
Jul 1, 4:57am
Thats actuarly incorrect. There was a docu not long ago on freeview tv 1 or so week ago about hindenburg . What happened is the americans would not let the germans have helium So they used hydrogen. The storm did electrostatic charge the airship. Then crosswinds made tha captain make a sharp manouver that snapped the wire and tore A small hole in the hull and oxygen got inside and it started to go out of ballance . They rushed the docking lowering the tiedown line on to wet sand that cause a electrical discharge and whooooff it was on fire and crashed to the ground. Titanic was also in the docu and the fact titanic was on fire before it left on its final dooms voyage. A coal bunker was on fire and the most easy way was to use up that bunkers coal as you cant extinguish the fire any other way at low cost. So The titanic was steaming like hell because it had to use up the on fire coalbunker . is why it never stopped like other ships when icebergs where known to be near by. The one wall was fire damaged help it sink faster loads of other corner cutting like not full flood walls made one fill after the next real quick once it listed . Its quite a interesting and plausible docu.
nice_lady,
Jul 1, 5:23am
Interesting alright. That explains why they didn't slow down, but sailing with a fire on board wasn't probably the best idea - ouch.
"Inhalation risk is mitigated by a characteristic pungent odor. At concentrations greater than 2,000 ppm (0.2%) it is generally quite noticeable, however, lower concentrations may remain undetected while still being potentially toxic over longer exposures, and may still present a fire/explosion hazard. Again, this is similar to gasoline and ethanol; standard safety protocols exist for methanol and are very similar to those for gasoline and ethanol.
The use of methanol fuel reduces the exhaust emissions of certain hydrocarbon-related toxins such as benzene and 1,3 butadiene and dramatically reduces long-term groundwater pollution caused by fuel spills. Unlike benzene-family fuels, methanol will rapidly and non-toxically biodegrade with no long-term harm to the environment as long as it is sufficiently diluted."
Nah, they use Bitrex here in NZ as a bittering agent. They stopped using Pyridine because it become a source of Pyridine for use in ' Homebake' Codeine-Heroin production. ,( thanks Bruce . ,)
And Methanol was making people go blind ( it breaks down into formaldehyde which attacks the retina, from what i read.
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.