4 ms·

Melting frozen driveways (residential). Burning land (commercial)

• sandworm101 3y ago
  >> Melting frozen driveways Please do not do this. Use a propane torch. A flamethrower literally throws burning fluids. It will melt the ice, then a ribbon of fire will flow down your driveway. It may then melt or even ignite your asphalt.
  • foobarian 3y ago
    Does this actually work? I tried using flame once on a 0F day but it barely made a dent. The heat content of water is staggeringly high.
    • QuercusMax 3y ago
      It's not just the heat capacity of water, but also the energy required for phase-change from solid (ice) to liquid (water). That's why throwing salt on ice will melt it but also lower the temperature.
    • sandworm101 3y ago
      Yes and no. To melt/dry an entire driveway would be silly. But if you need to melt/dry a crack to make a repair then a propane torch will work. We have all seen them used by road crews. Million-btu torches are available on amazon for about fifty bucks.
    • mmh0000 3y ago
      Short answer, yes[1] but it's pretty inefficient[2] [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/rkxlz1/clearing_the_snow_with_a_flamethrower/ https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/rkxlz1/cl... [2] https://what-if.xkcd.com/130/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/130/