It’s a common problem, really. Sometimes folks walk into their pantry and see loads of dairy creamer and corn starch and marvel to themselves, “how am I going to get rid of all of this?” No? Doesn’t apply? Well, for mad amateur engineer Ivan Owen – this is precisely the problem he set to fix with a homemade flamethrower powered off of – you guessed it – corn starch.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
While most folk usually see things like corn starch and powdered non-diary creamer as just ingredients which lay about until they’re needed – Ivan Owen sees potential. Mr. Owen has been making a name for himself creating odd gadgetry like mechanical hulk fists and Chihuahua mobility scooters so it shouldn’t be any surprise that when left with an overabundance of corn starch, he would naturally build an impressive flamethrower.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Flamethrower Pow(d)ered by Novel Fuel Source
Recipes for homemade flamethrowers on YouTube is, unsurprisingly, relatively common – and dangerous. With variations that use items such as repurposed Super Soakers and squirt guns to full out replicas of old WWII style combat flamethrowers, most come with a pretty predictable pattern from start to finish. With some rather novel exceptions such as this kid from California and UK’s own notorious pyromaniac Colin Furze, most of the plans online are downright dangerous to replicate. Owen’s plan is equally so but he manages to take a new twist on an old arson favorite. He’s exploiting the relatively untalked about phenomena of corn starch and non-dairy creamer flammability.
Read More
While most of us merely see that old powdered substance about the work place cafeteria, untouched an unused, Owen manages to figure out a way to harness it’s combustibility to m
While most of us merely see that old powdered substance about the work place cafeteria, untouched an unused, Owen manages to figure out a way to harness it’s combustibility to make a decent show stopping spectacle. Especially in the case of powdered diary creamer, there is a lot of explosive potential. In fact, this very issue was discussed in a highly watched episode of Mythbuster’s Season 7. Apparently, sodium aluminosilicate – the agent used to prevent powdered non-dairy creamer from caking up – can also create a massive fireball.
Why is Corn Starch and Non-Diary Creamer Flammable?
As briefly alluded to before, one of the caking agents in non-diary creamer helps the combustion process to occur. Basically, with the addition of oxygen (air) and activation energy (flame), both of these powdered agents have calories which can be activated into combustion. In the case of sodium aluminosilicate, an electrolyte, it can contribute the initial electric charge necessary to catalyze that combustion reaction. In the case of non-diary creamers especially, there are a lot of agents added to improve taste and texture once added to a cup of joe. Elements like powdered corn syrup and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil are extremely calorie rich fuel stores which can ignite rather easily. Basically, where there is energy and a fuel source (calories, fat) there is potential for fire. And especially for non-diary creamers with a lot of preservative agents like dipotassium phosphate, once ignited, temperatures have the tendency to rise hot and fast. That’s why the US military uses weaponized phosphorus for flares – it burns hot, bright, and melts through steel and concrete. To extract enough from non-diary creamer for a white phosphorous torch of your own, though, you’d need roughly a ton of the stuff. But it definitely contributes to the activation energy necessary to get powdered non-diary creamer up into flames. Heck, even peanut butter can be a fuel for fire. Though we imagine that flame thrower would likely smell fantastic, please don’t experiment and take our word for it. So next time you find yourself bored in the kitchen or eyeballing the non-diary creamer in the break room, remember – safety is number one priority. Do not attempt to replicate Owen’s mad experiment.
Read Less
