[ExI] Melted steel

[hkhenson]

At 10:09 PM 10/5/2007, Spike wrote:

snip

>The paper uses enthalpy of reaction of jet fuel in air to calculate a flame
>temperature of about 650C, but this is an adiabatic flame temperature
>assuming the reactants start at about room temperature.  The fire started at
>that temperature of course, but as the fire continued, the reactants
>continued to heat before igniting.  So if the reactants start hotter than
>room temperature, the products end up at higher than 650C.  This alone is
>all that is needed to explain the molten metal in the basement after
>collapse, and also to explain why the buildings did not collapse immediately
>but rather only after the fire had burned for some time.
>
>A similar effect was seen in the fire that caused the bridge collapse in
>Oakland after a fuel truck crashed and ignited.
>
>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/29/BAGVOPHQU46.DTL
>
>I expected that event to put an end to the truther movement, but they appear
>to be making a comeback.  Perhaps they will theorize that the bridge was
>rigged with explosives?

It's clear from the pictures that there was little or no *melting* in 
this crash and fire.  Not that it mattered, the metal got hot enough 
it could no longer hold up its own weight and sagged.

>Recall that the ancients managed to make molten iron by alternating layers
>of ore and charcoal, long before modern techniques using electric resistance
>to heat the ore.  Clearly this is a hydrocarbon fire, but still it gets hot
>enough to melt iron.  Perhaps we should ask Dr. Steven E. Jones (no
>relation) if he believes the ancient ironsmiths used the thermite reaction.

It is certainly possible to melt iron with hydrocarbons, but it takes 
a rather special setup to do it, forced draft among them.

On the other hand the WTC could well have provided that from a 
chimney effect.  Jet fuel pouring down the elevator shafts would 
result in forced air combustion that could have melted steel or at 
least got it to yellow heat.  That might have caused the interior 
steel to fail first.

It kind of amazes me that the buildings they are putting up look like 
they would be subject to the same kind of failure if the same thing 
happened to them.

Keith Henson