Posted by Wayne on November 22, 2000 at 19:45:11:
In Reply to: Re: He and Ar? posted by tleemay on November 22, 2000 at 17:43:25:
In my work I design automated welding stuff for the aerospace and nuclear industries. We do lots of TIG and PLASMA welding, but never underwater. Well unless it is water in a nuclear reactor. And then it is with a local purge gizmo like a bell jar and we can only see what we are doing via TV. So that is why I laughed about the He and Ar. These gasses are in large cylinders here at the office. On some days, my empty scuba tanks are here waiting for me to take them out at lunch for a fill.
I have welded all kids of stuff from rocket casings to fuel bundles. I have set up the welding proceedures that have made hundreds of thousands of feet of stainless steel boat railing. But I cannot weld if a torch is put in my hand. It gets kinda embarrasing with my family and friends. I have no useful welding skills. I just thought I would tease about the He and Ar since >90percent of the use of these two gasses is welding.
BTW, did you know that Helium is mined? An odd piece of trivia. I wonder what divers do in Europe where Helium is so scarce. Remember the Hindenburg? Hydrogen because the US would not sell Helium to the Nazis.