If a metal electode is placed inside a microwave oven, air inside the microwave resonant cavity is ionized and we get plazma formation and the resultant lighning bolts. If an atomized spray of water is introduced in the cavity would the microwave energy and plazma formation result in combustion of the water vapor?
try it...........
Tried it in a microwave oven and yes the water burns. Didn't inject the mist just put some on a plate and let her boil up into the plazma arc. The biggest problem is the plazma arc is so energetic that it melts and rounds off the electrode tips. Once these tips go round the microwave energy stops being concentrated and the plazma goes away. When she's cooking the flames can detach and burn like in a slow motion wave. Tough to focus the waves in such a large cavity to get the ionization to happen where you want it.
Quote from: sparks on October 09, 2008, 09:41:54 AM
Tried it in a microwave oven and yes the water burns. Didn't inject the mist just put some on a plate and let her boil up into the plazma arc. The biggest problem is the plazma arc is so energetic that it melts and rounds off the electrode tips. Once these tips go round the microwave energy stops being concentrated and the plazma goes away. When she's cooking the flames can detach and burn like in a slow motion wave. Tough to focus the waves in such a large cavity to get the ionization to happen where you want it.
and what was the difference without the water? from what u wrote in the first post i deduce that water was not needed to create the plazma..
Without the water there was intense white light coming from either electrode tip.
When the water was introduced the plazma stream was blue and white extending across the gap (3/4") with a very large yellow and sometimes blue flame rising from the plazma arc and sustaining in the cavity traveling towards the upper part of the oven and sometimes towards a corner. When out of water the electrodes turned red and no further plazma just redhot electrodes melting. What I found peculiar was there was no water vapor left when I opened the door. Some heating of the cabinet and ceramics.
Ok sounds interesting.Was is distilated water or just tap water?how did u conclude that there was no water vapour afterwards?
The cabinet was dry as a bone. Pepsi cap 1/2 full of water went somewhere. Perhaps it condensed on the inside of the fan assembly. It wasn't inside the oven portion.
This was grossly inefficient but the results were encouraging enough to make further investigation worthwhile. I did notice that there was a 3 second delay before the plazma formed. I don't know if this is a characteristic of the magnetron employed or simply a product of the wave dispersion in the oven and orientation of the electrodes. In either case I believe this effect would be better off driving a turbine than a reciprocating engine.
Next step is to redesign the waveguide to work on a much smaller chamber and
do some pressure and flow calculations versus input epower. The microwave energy isn't really forfeited if it results in the heating and expansion of the non-combustible nitrogen.
It was tap water with a relatively lowph (acid rain sucks) and pretty high iron content. No chlorine.
Sparks,
I read a post several years ago that said to take a ICE hooked a magnatron and fire it with a spark coil using water vapor. I think we need a lense that would focus on a drop etc..
Bet it would work using a 2 cycle and siteglass window from a highpresure refridge system.
I found epsom salt in a glass bowl focused MW making a hole through the glass bowl.
A magnetic or HV charge director might work to.
There is a fillement that must heat up before u get full power. Just keep the current constant and pulse the HV from a pancake coil for a enourmous pulse of Ghz.