Real or Urban Myth ?

[rikrobson]

Interestingly the atmosphere contains almost the same amount of Argon as Water !!! now if only we could collect it

I do!! I get leccy with the rent on my arch and no running water. The solution was to run a de-humidifier into a water tank.

It's not quick but it makes about 10l per day depending on how wet it is (very this summer)

 

[rtbcomp]

I do!! I get leccy with the rent on my arch and no running water. The solution was to run a de-humidifier into a water tank.
........

That's the easy bit, now collect the argon

 

[eddie49]

Some interesting data on plasma cutting with air, nitrogen, water:
http://www.airplasma.com/moreplasma.html

 

[thinfourth]

That's the easy bit, now collect the argon

Just turn the temp down on the dehumidifer

 

[Chickenjohn]

Air is 70%Nitrogen, 20% Oxygen, 8% CO2 plus other bits and bobs. Before anyone pulls me up I mean roughly.
So cut faces will have Oxides and Nitrides which can lead to hardening, embrittlement and possibly porosity. If its high integrity work you should clean the faces.
In fact if its a quality job you need, you should always clean the surfaces before welding regardless of how its been prepped.

Technical Al, don't believe the BBC/ Government propaganda! CO2 is nowhere near 8%!!!, it is currently approximately 390PPM, which is ~ 0.039%.

It is not a question of "pulling you up" just that you were a few orders of magnitude out with the CO2 level and that might panic people.

But that is besides the point. Al is right that you should clean the surfaces after plasma cutting- it is meant to be a quick way roughly cut the sheet, accurate cutting to be finished by other means. (Tin snips in the case of 1mm steel for example). Plasma is also a great way for rough cutting thicker plate (tidy with grinder or file etc).

From wikipedia:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_chemistry#Atmospheric_composition

Atmospheric composition

Average composition of dry atmosphere, by volume
Gas per NASA
Nitrogen, N2 78.084%
Oxygen, O2 20.946%
Argon, Ar 0.934%
Minor constituents (in ppm)
Carbon Dioxide, CO2 383
Neon, Ne 18.18
Helium, He 5.24
Methane, CH4 1.7
Krypton, Kr 1.14
Hydrogen, H2 0.55
Water
Water vapour Highly variable;
typically makes up about 1%