Introduction: DIY Dry Powder/Dust Flame Thrower (Dust Explosion)

By RyanMake YouTube!
About: I am looking at the way the world is and all of the potential that exists in the space around us and the space between our ears. Asking questions that range from the ridiculous to the important and engaging w…

It is amazing how a small change to an environment can dramatically influence the potential of a substance. Powders are one such example, many powders when they sit in a pile seem relatively inert and not flammable but for others if they get enough air between the particles it can have explosive results.

Using something as simple as a hair dryer or a leaf blower to inject the air between the particles is all it takes to create an extremely flammable cloud wherever you are.

Be careful working with fuel air mixtures can be very dangerous so if you do attempt to make this project please take every precaution available to you.

The result is a dust explosion flamethrower that does not need any pressurized compartments which eliminates the possibility of a dangerous component failure while also making the whole build much cheaper.

Supplies

Tools Needed

  • Drawing Compass (To draw the inserts)
  • Ruler (To measure the size of the Leaf Blower / Blow Dryer output and to set the drawing compass)
  • Utility Knife (To cut the cardboard for the inserts)
  • Leaf Blower / Blow Dryer (To serve as the air source of the flamethrower)
  • Pair pf Pliers or Vice (Used to bend and shape the copper tube)

Parts Needed

  • T-Junction with the main line large enough to fit around the output of you leaf blow or blow dryer
    • 3 in. x 3 in. x 2 in. ABS DWV Hub x Hub x Hub Sanitary Tee
  • Funnel that fits into the top of the T with a wide output to feed the air stream with fuel
  • 1' of 1/2" Copper Piping to hold your ignition source
  • Duct Tape
  • Cardboard
  • Tiki Torch Wick
  • Tiki Torch Fuel
  • Various powders to Test
    • Powdered Coffee Creamer
    • Powdered Sugar
    • Corn Starch
    • Flour
    • Cinnamon

Step 1: Fitting the Piping to Your Air & Fuel Source

The leaf blower that I have has an output tube that is oval shaped but the largest dimension is 3" so I picked out a 3" T hub with 2" input port through which the fuel is fed.

The first step was cutting out spacer rings from cardboard to be able to attach the T-hub to the leaf blower. This involved using a compass to draw three 3.5" circles on a sheet of thick cardboard that I had salvaged from a shipping box and then using the output tube of the leaf blower to trace the outside shape of the tube.

Once these traces are made on the cardboard use a utility knife to cut out these spacers. I found it much easier to cut the spacers from the inside out so that I could hold onto the whole sheet as I cut the holes for the blower nozzle followed by cutting the spacers out of the cardboard.

With the spacers cut place them on the end of the leaf blower or hair dryer to help hold them in place. Now insert the leaf blower or hair dryer into the straight section of the T-Hub to ensure that it fits. Then using an adhesive such as hot glue like what I did cover the edges of the spaces with the glue and reinsert them into the end of the T-Hub.

Adding the funnel is very simple. Place the funnel in the perpendicular port of the T-Hub and tape it in place to ensure that it does not come loose when you shaken the system to help the fuel feed into the air stream.

Step 2: Adding the Ignition Source

Through testing and research one of the most effective ignition sources that we found was a fuel soaked Tiki Torch wiki. We had tried a lighter and a blow torch but the versions that we had would consistently get blown out. This also pointed to and important realization through the building that it is very important to have the main body of the ignition source outside of the air/fuel stream otherwise it would put the ignition source out instead of igniting the fuel air mixture.

Using a piece of 1/2" copper tubing we were able to fit the Tiki Torch wiki into that while it still was a soft enough piece of material that we could manipulate it with a vice or a set of large pliers to create a flat section to make it easier to attach it to the T-Hub and to bend it out of the main fuel/air stream. This was only a small adjustment in our case it only took a small offset of about an inch to make the set up work in a nice balance.

Once the tube is bent into a good shape the next step is to attach it to the rest of the assembly. This can be done simply using duct tape or more professionally by using a large hose clamp.

Step 3: Finalize the Construction and Tune the System

Taking the fully constructed T-Hub attach it to the leaf blower or hair dryer that you are using.

Place the Tiki Torch wick into the copper tubing and soak it in the torch fuel. Light the wick when you are ready to test.

It took multiple iterations of tuning particularly with our ignition source and our air source. Hopefully following the guide above will save you from having to make adjustments to the ignition source but depending on the air speed of your leaf blower you may need to cover part of the output tube with tape like we had to do so that it would constrict some of the air to allow the system to work proper. With too much air it is possible that even with the ignition source outside of the main stream it may not ignite.

Now with your system complete and tuned you are all set to try all sorts of fuels. If you had a chance to watch the video at the begining to see that we found the following materials work as great fuel sources.

-Corn Starch or Corn Starch based powders

-Powdered Coffee Creamer (This seems to be a very common one)

-Flour (Standard baking flour proved to work well)

-Powdered Sugar (Probably one of our best fuels)

-Cinnamon (Probably our favorite or at least best smelling)

Let us know in the comments if you test other fuels and what sort of results you achieve whether they are successful or not.