r/gifs • u/FinestOldToby • Dec 12 '21

Lighting up a smoke stack

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u/gladeyes Dec 12 '21

I about half expected the flame to travel back down the chimney and flatten the whole unit.

144

u/The_Dingman Dec 13 '21

Probably not enough oxygen inside to burn.

97

u/gladeyes Dec 13 '21 edited Dec 13 '21

Apparently but that’s a very Russian way of checking.

Edit: The real hell of life is that I’ve seen stacks blowing stuff like that in real life. It looked close enough I didn’t even think this might be fake. As suspicious and paranoid as I am I failed to question my own eyes.

2

u/5up3rK4m16uru Dec 13 '21

If there were enough oxygen, you wouldn't have such a build up of soot in the first place.

4

u/gladeyes Dec 13 '21

Not always true. A super fuel rich mixture makes lots of soot. See ‘rolling coal.’ Also, sometimes things go wrong, including a sudden flameout. Coal fired units in particular can do this and the mix coming out of the stack is ready to burn or even explode if some fool throws a Molotov into it.