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Is it easy to procure liquid oxygen as an amateur builder? The guide looks like it recommends using gaseous oxygen and gasoline since it is readily available.
by larrydag 6y ago
Is it easy to procure liquid oxygen as an amateur builder? The guide looks like it recommends using gaseous oxygen and gasoline since it is readily available.
- helldritch 6y agoThe typical way to produce small scale liquid oxygen (LOX) requires liquid nitrogen (you use the liquid nitrogen to cool the gas as it passes through some transport medium like a copper pipe and collect the cooled liquid). Purchasing LOX isn't too difficult, there are many vendors willing to supply large amounts of it, and a few vendors willing to supply small (experimental) amounts of it. Storing LOX is the real challenge, you need to keep it at ~310f (~-190c) which requires a well insulated cryogenic storage chamber. Typical industrial sized storage tanks have a few metres of insulation to keep the heat out, and typical small-scale tanks have around 1-2 feet of insulation. You're probably looking at a viable minimum storage container size of between 500-1000 litres (any smaller and your insulation layer will be so thin that you'll lose 10-20% of your stored oxygen as gases per day), with the typical minimal size being in the 2,500 litres range (which normally lose 1-2% of stored oxygen to gas per day) You can buy very small containers (2l, 5l, 25l, etc, these are for nitrogen but you can get them for oxygen too): https://uk.vwr.com/store/product/2104367/liquid-nitrogen-dewars-for-storage-and-transport-ld-series https://uk.vwr.com/store/product/2104367/liquid-nitrogen-dew... but these lose the liquid very quickly and you would likely want them delivered the same day you need them, resulting in a just-in-time delivery failure point.
- FlyMoreRockets 6y agoI have never had a problem getting liquid oxygen delivered in standard dewars to remote test sites. It is cheaper than bottled water.