Oxygen absorption/ removal

[the guy]

Evening all. Basically my intention is to remove the oxygen from a stream of air, either cheaply or preferably with the materials I have to hand. After doing a bit of research and writing off expensive options like pyrogallol, I think I have put together a design which might work. I wonder if you might give it a once-over for me?

 

Basically it would be a cylinder filled with steel wool and finely powdered calcium chloride, well packed and interspersed within the wool. The idea is that the calcium chloride will remove moisture from the air (a handy side-effect) and, in doing so, provide the moisture and concentrated electrolyte environment to allow the iron in the steel wool to oxidize easily. Maybe with the introduction of some particularly moist air (such as from breath) to start with, just to get things going.

 

I don't need the air to be perfectly void of oxygen but as close as oxygen-free as possible is desirable. Unfortunately, since I have nothing like pyrogallol to test the oxygen content, I will have no way of knowing how successful it has been, so could you let me know whether or not you think this will be sufficient?

 

As always your input is very helpful, thank you in advance.

[John Cuthber]

It will work, at least to some extent, but it will be slow.

You can check by seeing how fast the volume of a closed sample of air falls when exposed to the wool.

There's also every chance that some hydrogen will be produced.

 

This might help you find out how well the oxygen is being removed

http://chem.sci.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp/v13n1/10_2d4_1.pdf

 

 

What do you want the O2 free air for?

If it's just a gas that is not oxygen then you might do better using yeast and sugar to make CO2

[Sensei]

Basically my intention is to remove the oxygen from a stream of air, either cheaply or preferably with the materials I have to hand.

 

Cook beta plant in 2L+ water for ~35-40 minutes. Single one 300 grams costs 20 cents. Remove skin (or blend whole), juice will be much intensive.

 

 

 

Hot juice shed into plastic bottle, leave some gap for air. Close it hermetically.

After a while you will see that bottle is squashed. After couple days it will be the most squashed.

Juice is absorbing oxygen from air, leaving just nitrogen (~99%). If bottle won't be closed hermetically, it will be absorbing oxygen from room producing very nasty substance, with disgusting foul odor (you can accelerate production of it, doing electrolysis of juice; if I recall correctly positive electrode won't produce any oxygen (negative will produce hydrogen), so all oxygen is immediately absorbed by juice).

I have produced pure oxygen from electrolysis and pomp it to juice, and after couple days there was no oxygen at all, it has been all absorbed, but bottle was very squashed.

 

Unfortunately, since I have nothing like pyrogallol to test the oxygen content, I will have no way of knowing how successful it has been, so could you let me know whether or not you think this will be sufficient?

 

 

Flame can't burn when there is no oxygen.

 

Home checking of what gas we have is burning flame close to it.

If there is explosion, we had hydrogen.

When fire is starting burning a lot more intensive, then we had oxygen.

When fire is turning off, we had not flammable gas like nitrogen.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Sensei

[the guy]

John Cuthber - hmm, slow may not be good enough. Unfortunately it's not just oxygen-free air I need, or I'd be using bicarb and vinegar or yeast.

As it happens I am returning to an old problem, producing a stream of pure nitrogen - http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/70338-preparation-of-nitrogen/

Since I am struggling to find a purchase-able nitrogen canister that isn't the size of my mother, and liquid nitrogen isn't as easy to come by as everyone seems to be making out. I was hoping that an efficient oxygen absorber in tandem with sodium hydroxide to remove CO2 might be an option, but it's starting to look dim also...

 

 

Sensei - I've had a quick internet search (admittedly only on my phone) and can't seem to find any literature on this, or even a mention, could you point me in the right direction?

[Sensei]

Sensei - I've had a quick internet search (admittedly only on my phone) and can't seem to find any literature on this, or even a mention, could you point me in the right direction?

 

It's mine own experiment. Accidentally observed. Verifying it costs less than $1..

Edited December 5, 2013 by Sensei

[John Cuthber]

This stuff

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betanin

does react with oxygen, but I think it's probably as slow as the rusting iron.

[Enthalpy]

Hot iron powder? It will remove oxygen, but may begin a bit brutally.

 

What speaks against liquid nitrogen you evaporate as needed? Get 1L from relations having a tank of it.

[the guy]

What sort of temperature would be optimum for hot iron oxidation?

 

Nothing speaks against Liquid Nitrogen in terms of use, in fact it would be ideal. What you don't seem to understand is that, at least where I live in the North of England, it is not at all easy to get a hold of. It's just not around. I've read all over the internet about welding supply stores stocking the stuff but they don't here. I don't know if it's just an American thing or if I'm just unlucky, but that's the case. There are no nearby cryogenic medical supply places or anything of the sort and, aside from ordering delivery of a minimum of 5 gallons of the stuff, it appears it is out of reach. I have been writing to various Colleges in the area but I'm not getting my hopes too high since, even if they do happen to have such facilities, I highly doubt they'll hand it out willy-nilly to any old DIY nerd who sends a polite email.

Don't get me wrong, I'd be delighted to be proven wrong, I'm just stating my experience so far...

 

I did toy with the idea of carbon-based combustion to remove oxygen, since CO2 is relatively easy to remove, but I am aware of the by-production of CO at the low oxygen levels in question and I would rather avoid this since it is not so easily removed. Not to mention the obvious health risks.

If anyone can think of a variation on this/ a safe method for CO removal, please let me know.

[John Cuthber]

What sort of temperature would be optimum for hot iron oxidation?

 

 

Roughly red hot.