Product: Refrigerator: Control
CO2 at home   (+3)  [vote for, against]
Halloween is going to be SO much more fun now.

-A secondary compartment in your refrigerator opens and a pre-portioned package of dried yeast and sugar is added.
-A secondary compressor collects the Carbon dioxide and it is liquefied by compressing at a pressure of approximately 870 lb/in 2 (395 kg/cm 2 ) at room temperature.
-The liquid carbon dioxide is released into a dry ice press. When the liquid moves from a highly-pressurized environment to atmospheric pressure, it expands and evaporates at high speeds, causing the liquid to cool to its freezing point which is -109°F (-78.3°C).
-Size of CO2 granules can range from grains of rice, to ice cube size on demand once the liquid holding tanks are full.

Instant home made ice cream without emergency room visits.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 15 2016

you're going to need a rather large CO2 production compartment.
-- Voice, Apr 16 2016


A lot of CO2 in one place can be dangerous. It can displace the available oxygen you need to breathe. I think there will me more emergency room visits than you think.
-- Vernon, Apr 16 2016


// A lot of CO2 in one place can be dangerous. //

A lot of H2O in one place can be dangerous ... have you seen what that stuff can do to steel after just a few days immersion ? A lot of pretty much anything in one place can be dangerous ... U235, oxygen, loud overweight Americans in Hawaiian shirts ...
-- 8th of 7, Apr 16 2016


You can sense excess CO2. So off the top of my head the senses are sight, light, (hormonal/through skin) hunger, touch, smell, taste, hearing, balance, fresh air... any others?
-- Voice, Apr 16 2016


It's only an ice cube tray or two of dry ice at a time per batch.
That shouldn't even produce enough excess CO2 to stun the mice let alone be a health hazard.

Don't forget that dihydrogen monoxide can be split into its constituent elements an be used to make explosives.
It really shouldn't be left unregulated.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 16 2016


Sounds like fun.
-- whatrock, Apr 16 2016


//A lot of CO2 in one place can be dangerous.//

Not very. The body is acutely sensitive to CO2 (it is what regulates our breathing - not oxygen), so even a slight accumulation is obvious long before it becomes dangerous. Put someone in a room with 5% CO2 and they will feel as if they are suffocating, even though they will continue to get enough oxygen. Higher concentrations are dangerous, but will still elicit an immediate response such as leaving the room.

You are perhaps thinking of things like nitrogen, which can indeed displace all the air from a room without anyone being aware of it, and can cause fatal anoxia. Or CO, which is of course extremely dangerous and not noticeable.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Apr 17 2016


// extremely dangerous and not noticeable. //

MUHWHAHAHAHAHAhah <cough> <cough>

Ahem.
-- 8th of 7, Apr 17 2016


//MUHWHAHAHAHAHAhah <cough> <cough> //

Sp.: "MUHWHAHAHAHAHAhah <silence> <continued silence>"
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Apr 17 2016


Hey, this would mitigate the need for a separate fire extinguisher in industrial kitchens if a tank was kept constantly pressurised.

Can you say insurance-deduction boys and girls?
I knew you could.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 18 2016


//causing the liquid to cool to its freezing point which is 109°F (78.3°C)//

Not to be picky, but I think you need some minus signs in there, otherwise you run the risk of scalding.
-- zen_tom, Apr 18 2016


Doh!
Thanks.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 18 2016


Using yeast to produce carbon dioxide from sugar is like using pressurised propane to turn a windmill.

// So off the top of my head the senses are sight, light, (hormonal/through skin) hunger, touch, smell, taste, hearing, balance, fresh air... any others?//

Lots. Ian has already mentioned proprioception, then there's thirst, hunger, temperature (skin), temperature (internal), some more internal sensors I won't go in to...
-- Loris, Apr 18 2016


//Don't forget that dihydrogen monoxide can be split into its constituent elements an be used to make explosives. It really shouldn't be left unregulated//

With power outlets on aircraft, isn't this uh, an issue?
-- bs0u0155, Apr 18 2016


Shhhhh.

// like using pressurised propane to turn a windmill //

... except for the other product of fermentation...
-- 8th of 7, Apr 18 2016


//... except for the other product of fermentation...//

Exactly.
-- Loris, Apr 18 2016


//With power outlets on aircraft, isn't this uh, an issue?//

Now, there's a movie plot waiting to happen. A terrorist first breaks one of the plane's loos, prompting the stewardess to lock it for the remainder of the flight. Said terrorist then covertly enters said loo (you can open them quite easily, even when "locked"), plugging an electrolysis unit and a timer into a light fitting or power socket. He also tapes shut any vents, before returning to his seat.

Over the next few hours, the electrolyser slowly fills the loo with hydrogen (not completely - you want a decent amount of air/oxygen left) [edit: I'm an idiot; of course you don't need to add cabin air to the mix], and then the timer makes a spark and kaboom.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Apr 18 2016


It's really quite worrying. H2 is very easy, compared to say butane, to get an ideal ratio. Besides, it would be easy to design an electrolysis-containment system to ensure a good amount was a perfectly stoich. Mix.
-- bs0u0155, Apr 18 2016


Mylar bag. Tiny when folded- check out the silvered mylar emergency sleping bags.

Typical aircraft loo, maybe 2 m3 max. Of course the blast will be tamped by the surrounding structure, although it's fairly flimsy... but a quantity of cornstarch (some "baby powders" are mostly cornstarch, which seems to violate product description and labelling legislation) would be beneficial, causing pressure piling.

Hmm... now, what's the yield going to be ?

<later>

60g of water electrolyses to about 2m3 and releases about 750kJ on detonation. Of course you need 750kJ of electrical energy to do that. But it's equivalent to about 200g of ammonium nitrate, which would be quite useful.
-- 8th of 7, Apr 18 2016


The fermentation is... just a bonus, but I am very curious to learn more efficient ways of creating CO2 at home with less by-product.

...for the garden
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 19 2016


// less by-product. //

You are very odd.

// ...for the garden. //

Small mammals with very high metabolic rates. Shrews, voles, mice...
-- 8th of 7, Apr 19 2016


//I am very curious to learn more efficient ways of creating CO2 at home with less by-product.//

If you really do just want CO2 then why not simply burn the sugar?

Once you're settled on burning the input, you could do it more cheaply by using another fuel instead.
-- Loris, Apr 19 2016


"Home" CO2 generators do exist, though the "homes" they're used in are mostly grow ops. They work by burning fuel.
-- notexactly, Apr 19 2016


We need food grade CO2. I want to make ice cream and witches-brew cold drinks in the summer.

Anything burnt will negatively flavor the ice I think. At least with sugar and yeast any lingering after-taste is likely to be sweet.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 19 2016



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