What gas can be heated

[leprachuan45]

I am looking to invent a product. It's early stages and I don't have a patent yet, so I don't want to go into too much detail. I am wondering what gases could be safely heated. I don't have much backround in chemistry and would appreciate the help. I was wondering maybe carbon dioxide, or maybe oxygen or nitrogen? I realize the way it would be heated would be important to whether or not it'd be safe.

[dr.syntax]

I am looking to invent a product. It's early stages and I don't have a patent yet, so I don't want to go into too much detail. I am wondering what gases could be safely heated. I don't have much backround in chemistry and would appreciate the help. I was wondering maybe carbon dioxide, or maybe oxygen or nitrogen? I realize the way it would be heated would be important to whether or not it'd be safe.

 

REPLY: one of the noble gasses such as helium or neon would be safest. Radon is radio active so don`t pick that one. Argon has been shown to chemically react under certain conditions so don`t use that one. Helium is my best guess off the top of my head. Though argon would be the cheapest. It makes up close to 1% of the Earth`s atmosphere. ...Dr.Syntax ......My thinking about helium as the best choice is: That it has only the first electron shell. Therefore it`s electrons are the most stongly bonded to or attracted to it`s 2 protons which along with 2 neutrons make up the nucleus of a helium atom. The noble gases are unreactive because their outer electron shells are full. Chemical reactions are all about the interplay of elelectrons in the outer shells of the different atoms only. Just some after thoughts. ...DS

Edited October 22, 2009 by dr.syntax

[Horza2002]

Any gas can be heated but to different degrees of efficiency. Have you look up the specific heat capacities of certain gases to find the most efficient? Although helium would be chemically inert, high concentrations of it can be fatal (it destroys your lungs) and is rather expensive. If you want an inert, cheap gas then id suggest N2...It makes up 70% of the atmosphere and is chemically inert except under extreme conditions (e.g. lightining strikes)...it would also be a lot cheaper and safer than helium

[dr.syntax]

any gas can be heated but to different degrees of efficiency. Have you look up the specific heat capacities of certain gases to find the most efficient? Although helium would be chemically inert, high concentrations of it can be fatal (it destroys your lungs) and is rather expensive. If you want an inert, cheap gas then id suggest n2...it makes up 70% of the atmosphere and is chemically inert except under extreme conditions (e.g. Lightining strikes)...it would also be a lot cheaper and safer than helium

 

reply: How does helium destroy lung tissue ? ...ds

---

Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged

I am looking to invent a product. It's early stages and I don't have a patent yet, so I don't want to go into too much detail. I am wondering what gases could be safely heated. I don't have much backround in chemistry and would appreciate the help. I was wondering maybe carbon dioxide, or maybe oxygen or nitrogen? I realize the way it would be heated would be important to whether or not it'd be safe.

 

 

reply: the question was : what gasses can be safely heated ? I say my answer is the best one possible. N2 When heated enough,reaches a high enough temperature to combine with oxygen and create nitrous oxides. Given the limited parameters of this question I say helium is the best possible answer. ...DS

Edited October 22, 2009 by dr.syntax
Consecutive posts merged.

[insane_alien]

noble gases are expensive though. we need to know more about the use case to know which would be the best gas for the situation.

 

give us this information at least

 

1/how hot do you need the gas to get

2/what will the hot gas be in contact with

3/why does the gas need to be hot

 

you don't need to go into specifics about the use case but this information would help immensly.

[Horza2002]

I don't know exactly what it does...but when I was using it in the lab, there was a safety note attached with it saying that exposure to high concetrations of helium can result in permenant lung damage. Not sure how this occurs though....it might just be a sudden increase in pressure is enough to rupture the alveoli...but if thats the case, any gas would do the same.....

 

With reagrds to nitrogen reacting with oxygen at high temps, that is true. But if you heat pure nitrogen cases in the absence of oxygen then that won't happen!

[insane_alien]

the big problem with high concentrations of helium is the low concentrations of oxygen associated with it. i guess if you die from asphyxiation then that would be considered permanent damage.

 

the only way it is going to destroy the lungs is if you inhale high pressure helium but that problem extends to all gases. if you put your mouth up to the nozzle and turn the valve on a pressure cylinder then expect to die a horrible death.

[leprachuan45]

It would be in a sealed container and not be inhaled if that helps.

[insane_alien]

that covers 1 of the three questions(albeit pretty insufficiently,sort of like saying a bikini is suitable HAZMAT gear). answer the rest please.

[leprachuan45]

I would say the gas would need to be around 130 degrees F. Thats approximate maybe have a range of +/- 20 deg.F. I'm not sure what the container would be yet. My guess would be carbon fiber, fiberglass. Maybe aluminum. Most likely carbon fiber. Like I said it would be contained so breating it would be unlikely, but may be a concern in the event of the container rupturing. So safety of the gas is somewhat of a concern. I'm not sure how much more I can explain without giving away what it is. Like I said I don't have a patent yet. If you need more details let me know and i'll try to answer as best I can. Thanks for the ideas so far.

---

Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged

I guess it could be like a gel(if it could be heated?), it wouldn't have to be a gas. I just wouldn't be able to be very dense.

[insane_alien]

well the temperatures are low and the materials are pretty inert. you could just go with air if you wanted.

 

if you are really paranoid about safety you could use notrogen as that is completely inert at those temperatures to those materials. and if there are any materials nearby that do react with nitrogen at those temperatures then they'll be destroyed by the atmosphere anyway.

[Mr Skeptic]

I am looking to invent a product. It's early stages and I don't have a patent yet, so I don't want to go into too much detail. I am wondering what gases could be safely heated. I don't have much backround in chemistry and would appreciate the help. I was wondering maybe carbon dioxide, or maybe oxygen or nitrogen? I realize the way it would be heated would be important to whether or not it'd be safe.

 

It is always this way. If your idea is so simple that a few words could give it away, it pretty much means that it has almost certainly been thought of by someone else. Especially if you need help with such a simple question.

 

Since you gave no indication of what it was, we can't save you a lot of trouble by telling you who invented it.

 

For the temperature you suggested, you can use air or pretty much any other gas that is not toxic or highly reactive. But, there almost certainly is another property of the gas that you would want but you don't know enough to ask and don't have enough sense to realize you don't know.