Catalytic furnace

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Catalytic furnace from the 1970s
Catalytic furnace (manufacturer: OEM) in the GDR Museum Pirna
Catalytic furnace from the 2000s

A Catalytic Heater is a current-independent compact heater. The heat is generated without an open flame by catalytic combustion of liquid gas or gasoline in a catalyst material. It is a heterogeneous catalysis, i. that is, the catalyst and reactant are in different phases .

Catalytic stoves are primarily used for heating in the leisure area (hobby rooms, allotments, camping), but also in halls and workshops. When the gas is burned, mainly carbon dioxide and water are produced; if there is insufficient ventilation, the toxic gas carbon monoxide is produced . In addition, oxygen consumed, therefore Katalytöfen are to be used only in well-ventilated areas.

There were also catalytic ovens that ran on catalytic gasoline with a density of 0.72 kg / l. However, this catalytic gasoline is no longer produced today. In its place there is now special petrol 80/110 , which is still available in household quantities in some hardware stores. The designation 80/110 refers to the defined boiling limits of the gasoline. Cleaning gasoline, white gasoline
and other pure gasoline with rather low boiling limits ( light gasoline ) such as. B. Shellsol 80/110 or the aromatic-free special fuel Aral ASF which is used for karting in the hall.

Also, motor gasoline can be used, but not recommended. It is believed that it leaves residues that stick to the carburetor, wick or heating pad and that harmful combustion products are formed. Modern catalytic furnaces, like catalytic converters in motor vehicles, can contain thin platinum layers which are applied to membranes, honeycombs or metal mesh and which have been damaged by the lead content of the formerly leaded motor gasoline.

Since 1926 at the latest and until around the beginning of the 1970s in West Germany, and in the GDR until the 1980s, special gasoline-powered catalytic stoves for use as parking heaters in motor vehicles were on the market, as there were no other effective parking heaters. These catalytic ovens are often reminiscent of a small milk can in terms of shape and size. They had to be cheered outside of the garage in a well-ventilated area. If the flame was no longer visible after a few minutes of heating, the stove could be placed in the garage or in the footwell of the car, where it gave off its heat due to the catalytic combustion.

In catalytic ovens made in the GDR there is regularly white asbestos (chrysotile) in the heating pad and in the sealing cord of the heating grille ; Such asbestos-containing devices may therefore no longer be used, sold or offered for distribution in the European Union, even if they were once legally acquired. Weathering causes asbestos-containing products to continuously release carcinogenic asbestos fibers that can be inhaled and have a long-lasting effect on the body.

On November 26th, 2012 there was a fire disaster in a workshop for the disabled in Titisee-Neustadt with 14 deaths, triggered by an operating error on a catalytic furnace.

References

  1. frag-den-Heimwerker.com about catalytic furnaces
  2. OEM catalytic furnace
  3. Instructions for catalytic ovens from OEM for Oskar Epperlein Metallwarenfarbrik or Oskar Epperlein, Magdeburg
  4. Information from Erik Leger in the Seekajakforum , accessed in January 2016
  5. Art. 3 no. 1 and Art. 67 Para. 1 i. V. m. Annex XVII No. 6 of Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 (REACH-VO) ; In Germany, violations of this prohibition of placing on the market are a criminal offense according to § 5 No. 6 Chemical Sanctions Ordinance, § 27 Chemicals Act
  6. Risk assessment in section 3 of the brochure "UmweltWissen: ASBEST" from the Bavarian State Office for the Environment, accessed in July 2019
  7. ↑ Fire disaster in Neustadt: workshop manager innocent , Badische Zeitung, February 3, 2014