Re: Ball lightning ?

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Terry Fritz" <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>

Hi Richie,

At 09:10 PM 1/3/2002 +0000, you wrote:
>Hi Terry,
>
>I was looking through the archives and noticed a reference you made to
>some of my SSTC pictures.  The ones with the luminous patches above the
>arc were with about 3kW of power at 350kHz.
>
>I have several pictures showing various smudges of light above the
>arc.  These can be seen as much as 8 inches above the main flame during
>operation but are much brighter and easier to spot in the video frames.

I am trying to make these too.  I only have 900W right now but I have a
2500W 400kHz supply at work that should run off my home voltages.  This
looks too cool not to play with :-))

>
>Sadly, I don't think they represent anything exciting like ball
>lightning. I had a guy email me about this last year. He said that the
>brief flashes of light were due to trace gasses in the air burning due
>to the heat of the arc. He mentioned carbon monoxide among others. I'm
>not a chemist but assume this explanation is correct.

"I" think it is a piece of real ball lightning.  I think you are seeing
nitrogen being burned in oxygen to form NOx compounds as told in the paper at:

http://hot-streamer-dot-com/TeslaCoils/OtherPapers/Gladyshev/A%20Physico-Chemica
l%20Model%20of%20Ball%20lightning.htm

http://hot-streamer-dot-com/TeslaCoils/OtherPapers/Gladyshev/

I think you also need to get a swirling vortex thing going.  Sort of like a
smoke ring or tornado.  That will feed the flame and keep it going.  Some
of the Russians have worked a lot on the air current part of it.  This is
probably really hard to get going.

Then it appears that you need some extra chemicals like water, dirt, wood,
carbon, etc. to help it burn.

So with all three parts mixed together, one may indeed get this ball
lightning stuff going.  Your tests are a vital piece to such a theory.

>
>To me it just appears that licks of flame occasionally swirl off the
>main arc and quickly fade as they rise.

If you are "burning" air, that is a big start!

>
>I posted some pictures here:
>	http:\\www.richieburnett.co.uk\flames.zip
>and a short MPEG here:
>	http:\\www.richieburnett.co.uk\flames.mpg

Cool!  This is sort of what I was expecting with more power.

>if you want to take a look.
>
>Only once did I experience something with my SSTC which appeared as I
>imagine ball lightning might look.  A brilliant white piece of burning
>Aluminium fell from my foil covered toroid and bounced on the floor.
>Boy did that surprise me !  But alas,  still not the ellusive ball
>lightning ;-))

But it is as close as we seem to get.  I think ball lightning is right in
our hands now but we just don't "see" it or tickle it just right to get it
going.  I think the "answer" is right here waiting for us :-))

I will post your new info to the Tesla list too.  Maybe someone else will
manage to figure it all out and save us the work :-)))

Cheers,

	Terry


>
>Cheers,
>
>-Richie,
>