Catching Fire

EstuaryBoy said:

I well remember first year Physics demonstration where a 'tin' of coal gas was allowed to burn merrily until it reached that critical ratio, then.... Kerboom!!! Doubt elf'n'safety would allow it these days.

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I once worked for a company which made gas-fired aluminium melting furnaces. You cannot leave a large vessel full of the explosive mixture because you will always get the spark. I know of one incident in which a cube-shaped oven turned into a sphere, just after a worker had climbed down off the top of it. The door on an alumimium melting furnace weighs about two tonne. Getting the purge cycle right is critical.