Grimer wrote:
At 04:57 pm 03/01/2006 -0500, you wrote:
No. And it was probably the shellac which caused the disaster.
However, if I invest $10k in a wind generator, I wouldn't want to see
my investment coming down in flames due to sparks from the generator.
Come on! Not much chance of that with a properly designed system.
I'm sure cost benefit analysis would show that the money saved
by using H2 would more than pay the cost of extra insurance cover.
Hydrogen has more lift, it's cheaper, and it's easier to contain
(molecule's roughly twice as big, doesn't slip through the pores so
quickly). Helium's a very poor second choice, except for the
flammability issue.
OTOH hydrogen is explosive in certain circumstances, so you might be
suspected of terrorist activities if it got around that you were making
large amounts of it.
During WW2 we used barrage balloons filled with hydrogen and though
plenty of them were shot down I never heard of any catching alight
by accident.
Frank
