Man Sets Water on Fire

[Loeln]

http://www.wpbf.com/news/13383827/detail.html#

Fla. Man Invents Machine To Turn Water Into Fire

SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. -- A Florida man may have accidentally invented a machine that could solve the gasoline and energy crisis plaguing the U.S., WPBF News 25 reported.

Sanibel Island resident John Kanzius is a former broadcast executive from Pennsylvania who wondered if his background in physics and radio could come in handy in treating the disease from which he suffers: cancer.

Kanzius, 63, invented a machine that emits radio waves in an attempt to kill cancerous cells while leaving normal cells intact. While testing his machine, he noticed that his invention had other unexpected abilities.

Filling a test tube with salt water from a canal in his back yard, Kanzius placed the tube and a paper towel in the machine and turned it on. Suddenly, the paper towel ignited, lighting up the tube like it was a wax candle.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Kanzius asked WPBF's Jon Shainman.

Kanzius performed the experiment without the paper towel and got the same result -- the saltwater was actually burning.

The former broadcasting executive said he showed the experiment to a handful of scientists across the country who claim they are baffled at watching salt water ignite.

Kanzius said the flame created from his machine reaches a temperature of around 3,000 degrees Farenheit. He said a chemist told him that the immense heat created from the machine breaks down the hydrogen-oxygen bond in the water, igniting the hydrogen.

"You could take plain salt water out of the sea, put it in containers and produce a violent flame that could heat generators that make electricity, or provide other forms of energy," Kanzius said.

He said engineers are currently experimenting with him in Erie, Pa. in an attempt to harness the energy. They've built an engine that, when placed on top of the flame, chugged along for two minutes, Kanzius told WPBF.

Kanzius admits all the excitement surrounding a new possible energy source was a stroke of luck. Someone who witnessed his work on the cancer front asked him if perhaps the machine could be used for desalinization.

"This was an experiment to see if I could heat salt water, and instead of heat, I got fire," Kanzius said.

Kanzius said he hoped that his invention could one day solve a lot of the world's energy problems.

"If I were to be bold enough, I think one day you could power an automobile with this, eventually," Kanzius told WPBF.

How does one set water ablaze without causing it to evaporate beforehand?

[Llewthepoet]

You could set it on fire if the surface is covered in oil which is flammable.

P.S. Your new avatar is awesome!

[likeafox]

LOL what a crock that is.

[Zaaphod]

Be cool if this is actually true. We'll see... lol cold fusion...

[gforce422]

Hold up. This machine was meant to treat cancer? What would happen if you put a human (60% water)were to be put into this machine? I'd hate to be that test patient!

But seriously, it would be interesting to see if it is real. Guess we will have to wait for more verification from other sources...

[The Donmeister]

Even if he is burning the water (by first splitting it into hydrogen and oxygen), the energy required to split the water would be greater than what burning it would produce. So it's cool, but not useful.

[Svix]

Even if he is burning the water (by first splitting it into hydrogen and oxygen), the energy required to split the water would be greater than what burning it would produce. So it's cool, but not useful.

Yeah, thats why it always annoys me when people keep banging on about hydrogen fuel cell cars and how great they are; once you've got hydrogen it's fine it's just getting it that's the problem.

Anyone heard of http://www.steorn.com/ who claim to have made something that produces 'free energy'? Started last summer and I'm still waiting for some kind of evidence.

[The Donmeister]

Orbo is based upon the principle of time variant magneto-mechanical interactions.

I think it might be a load of crap...

Either that, or they use room-temperature superconductors.

[Svix]

I'm thinking load of crap, altough expensive load of crap considering their advertisement in the economist. Odd.

[likeafox]

It's true you wouldn't get any more energy out of burning hydrogen and oxygen than it would take to split apart water to begin with. But unfortunately he's not doing even that.

If you'll notice, the flame is plainly yellow. Hydrogen burns clear, not yellow.

[Muninn]

Flammable water? Maybe they rediscovered the secret of Greek fire.

[osprey]

I doubt it because he says the machine that emits radio waves is essential to lighting the water on fire.

[Weremensh]

It's true you wouldn't get any more energy out of burning hydrogen and oxygen than it would take to split apart water to begin with. But unfortunately he's not doing even that.

If you'll notice, the flame is plainly yellow. Hydrogen burns clear, not yellow.

Well, it is salt water...

[Arloest]

Didn't the waters in Boston Harbor catch fire once?

[Doc Sigma]

Didn't the waters in Boston Harbor catch fire once?

Yep. Well, the gunk floating on top of the water. But, yep.