When will the Argon shortage end?

[cjtoombs]

While it was pointed out earlier that Argon makes up about 1% of the atmosphere and that it was derived from distillation of air so there shouldn't be a shortage, that may not be entirely correct. Argon is not a primary component of the process, just a byproduct, so if demand, and thus production, of oxygen and/or nitrogen are down, there will be less argon. It's not economical to liquify and distill air just for the argon (unless you're willing to pay thousands for a bottle). Remember, there will be 79 bottles of nitrogen and 21 bottles of oxygen produced for every bottle of argon.

 

[WobblyHand]

Off beat question, any know of plans to build one's own air compressor for liquifying air?

 

[pontiac428]

Off beat question, any know of plans to build one's own air compressor for liquifying air?

 

[rwm]

Yes. You will need a scuba compressor and a countercurrent heat exchanger.

Homemade Liquid Nitrogen Generator

Homemade Liquid Nitrogen Generator: Did you ever think you could make liquid nitrogen in your own garage? This is an industrial process so how can an individual do this? Still doubt me? Intrigued? Read on. As a lover of science I tried to think of a challenging project that was out o…

www.instructables.com

 

[WobblyHand]

Yes. You will need a scuba compressor and a countercurrent heat exchanger.

Homemade Liquid Nitrogen Generator

Homemade Liquid Nitrogen Generator: Did you ever think you could make liquid nitrogen in your own garage? This is an industrial process so how can an individual do this? Still doubt me? Intrigued? Read on. As a lover of science I tried to think of a challenging project that was out o…

www.instructables.com

How to make the scuba compressor? That's the expensive item. The rest is straight forward.

 

[WobblyHand]

Been there, done that

 

[graham-xrf]

But, as a farmer, my plants need CO2, and,,,, if you think back to Jr high science class, my plants convert it to sugar and O2. The greater the CO2 concentration the faster they grow and therefore convert more to O2.

Indeed it is so.
I was asking how come there came to be so much oil in a desert wasteland (Saudi Arabia), and under the North Sea.
Sure, now in a few decades, we are burning off the plant hydrocarbons accumulated by millions of years of sun energy making plants

I understand there was a time when the atmosphere was so thick with CO2, that is what gave the boost to the plant growth all over the planet. Unfortunately, we don't get to repeat the trick, although I dare say planting trees and fields and reclaiming desert, and not stripping out the Amazon might help. It had stabilized at about 0.4%, before the industrial revolution in mid 1800s.

Ultra bonkers greenhouse warming!
The most extreme case of planet warming has to be Venus atmosphere (96% CO2). At about 80 miles above the surface, its very cold (about -279°F ) Get closer to the surface to 60 miles, and it gets warmer. It's about 14°F at the top of the thick deck of CO2 cloud at about 60 miles.
Below the cloud, at the surface, it's hot enough to melt lead or zinc (464°F)

I guess the point may be that it can get so bad that plant life can't survive do the rescue job

 

[rwm]

Not too expensive really:

381.42US $ 22% OFF|Tuxing 4500psi 300bar 30mpa Pcp Air Compressor High Pressure Pump Pneumatic Rifle Filling Gas Cylinder Tank Scuba Set Pressure - Pumps - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[WobblyHand]

Not too expensive really:

381.42US $ 22% OFF|Tuxing 4500psi 300bar 30mpa Pcp Air Compressor High Pressure Pump Pneumatic Rifle Filling Gas Cylinder Tank Scuba Set Pressure - Pumps - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

I've seen compressors like this before, but they have no scfm rating which indicates to me that they are probably very low. The total price is about double - did you notice the shipping cost? Also would want "breathable" version since we don't want oil and other blowby in the liquid air. Scuba compressors are pretty expensive, was wondering if it was possible to make one. Might be more expensive than buying, though...

 

[great white]

Indeed it is so.
I was asking how come there came to be so much oil in a desert wasteland (Saudi Arabia), and under the North Sea.

Mostly because of this:

That's a map of the supercontinent Pangea. It came to be roughly 335 million years ago and started breaking up approx 200 million years ago. That means the current oil rich areas had approx 135 million years to produce vegetation to produce oil, and rouhly 200 million years to change that plant material into hydrocarbons.

Saudi used to be in the equatorial tropical region which means it woudl have experienced thick vegetation coverage, just like the equatorial regions do today. Then you had continental drift (ie; plate tectonics) which moved the then equatorial regions to where they are today. The oil moved with the plates because it's in the plates.

You can also see why there's so much oil in the Gulf of Mexico region. It's in the same equatorial plane as Saudi.

To explain the North sea oil feilds, you have to go back a little further to a continent named "Laurasia", which held the entire north sea region in the equatorial region for millions of years as well.

Not that these are the only regions that produce oil, but it's why there a concentrations in those areas compared to others. It's the plant growth that makes oil more than anything else and a climate favorable to plant growth means an area that's more likely to (in time) produce oil.