I need custard.

I witnessed that in (IIRC) Richmond, Yorks 30-odd years ago. My first thought was that a gas cylinder had gone up in the hardware store, but it was the baker next door. The clue was the loaves strewn amongst the glass splinters in t'middle of the road.

Or was it Ripon: my brain is fading.

Edited By Chris Pearson 1 on 15/08/2023 22:10:21

Edited By Chris Pearson 1 on 15/08/2023 22:10:39

Edited By Chris Pearson 1 on 15/08/2023 22:11:53

I seem to remember a children's programme on television years back where they demonstrated this powder-based explosion problem by blowing a puff of ordinary cooking flour into a transparent vessel continuing a lit candle. Very much a "don't try this at home" experiment - wonder if that sort of thing would be allowed on television these days?

Certainly is. Stephen Fry did the powder explosion on QI. Moving up the scale, Tony Robinson did a series demonstrating the effects of replica WW2 German Bombs on typical British homes. From memory his smallest explosion was 50kg of an un-named High Explosive, distinctly more violent than custard powder! Mythbusters (made in the US where they have more empty space for big bangs), filmed many explosion based myths and realities. Gas igniting inside a Portaloo (don't smoke), up to a cement truck filled with quarry blasting explosive.

Modern TV is increasingly coy about the exact 'how to' details. No desire to make it easy for those who want to cause explosions in crowded public places. All countries have large 'Sh1t for Brains' communities!

Dave

Dave

I worked for 30 years at General Foods (Birds Custard and Maxwell House Coffee) in Banbury where we had a dust explosion in the Desserts area 1981 involving one of the Custard plants. I was just coming onto night shift at 9:45 pm and was just in the locker room getting changed when the explosion occurred, the fire alarm was sounding and as maintenance staff we were part of the Fire Team and started off towards the area being announced over the Tannoy system, walking through a fog of cornstarch dust..

For anyone interested the link below is for the Factory inspectors report.

https://archive.org/details/op1275789-1001

David

The Explosion Demonstration for new starters at General Foods consisting of a 10" od Steel tube, open top solid bottom, an airline connection towards the bottom, a spark plug at the bottom, connected to an HT transformer with a push button. 1teaspoon of custard powder was placed was in the bottom, a paper diaphragm held over the top with a Jubilee clip. The routine was a short shot of air to get custard powder airborne and then a push of the button for the ignition source and you end up with a small bang and a burst diaphragm.

David

Well, there you have it Lee, (see the OP) official confirmation from an inside source All you have to do now is find a retail outlet for one.

FWIW I had a decent bowl of the Bird's instant stuff last night poured over some blackberries - lovely

Best - Tug

Custard powder, sawdust, and coal dust are all hydrocarbons, so if mixed with oxygen, in the air, or elsewhere, can be combustible. amd so explosive..

In America at least one railroad company experimented with coal dust as a suitable substitute for coal in a specially built steam loco.

There have also been esxperiemnts to inject coal dust as a fuel ,for compression ignition engines. (The problem was that the coal dust slurry, being abrasive, shortened the life of the pump and injector components. )

My future in laws lived in a flat, and the old ladies below would carry coal, up the stairs, dropping coal dust as they went.

Terrified me, fearing, at least, a fire, if not an explosion, as we all crunched our way upstairs!

Thankfully, F i L retired and they moved out!

Even wire wool will burn!

Howard

I recall a documentary about the fire of London and speculation that it exacerbated by an explosion of flour dust in the Pudding Lane bakery, not just a fire.

James

Try Wikipedia with 'thermobaric weapon'. It's clear that this subject has been well understood by weapons engineers for a long while. Some have suggested it was a coaldust explosion, subsequent to the torpedo, that sank the Lusitania so disastrously in 1915.

I don't think custard powder is a preferred fuel.

When my parents were having central heating installed the plumber had a Ford Thames van, he kept a large pack of wire wool behind the drivers seat but unfortunately the Thames battery is also located there, inevitably the wire wool met the battery and there was lots of smoke and glowing wire wool. For a young lad it was quite exciting but I think the Norman the plumber was less impressed.

Mike

So that's the solution to constipation - a custard powder blast! Problem would be placement in the right area.

I'll leave now, ha, ha.

I prefer carnation condensed milk.

( I'll hide now )

Roy

When I was a science teacher, I would regularly use any excuse to explode flour. A good way to demonstrate that food provides energy. There was a knack to getting it to work well. Would blow the lid of a large tin can.

I cannot understand how rock dust explodes, but it must. Starting fluid detonates also. Here's how I know. Taken about 1 minute after the event. Whipped the starter cord violently back and hit My hand in the process.

Ether, if used in the starting fluid, will ignite with a 6:1 compression ratio without aid of a spark. So if you're using it with a higher compression engine, it can easily pre-ignite