Lighting a sparkler stuck into a citrus fruit - GIF

Lighting a sparkler stuck into a citrus fruit.

<video controls autoplay loop> <source src="https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net/setting_mandarin_onfire.mp4" type="video/mp4"> Your browser does not support the video tag. </video>


Previously:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...476#post200774
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...304#post154241
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...417#post127353
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...270#post138645
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...159#post134555

My son tried doing that after watching a video and it did not work. Seemed to have been about the same proportions with orange and sparkler. Sparkler just went out when it hit the moisture of the orange. Told him we need some thermite sparklers.

If video orange ignited, and not Mr. odd one, is likely due to freshness, and thickness of the rind. The combustion is in the rind, not inside.
Thin skinned citrus has very little citric oil.
Orange (and lemon) oil, that held in the rind, is very, very flammable. Obviously the quantity collected from a single fruit is small. Thicker skinned fruit is harvested not only for the sections inside or to be juiced, the oil is squeezed to produce the additive for every citrus based cleaner imaginable. Factories doing that have the best fire suppression systems available, tool cribs full of AMPCO beryllium tools (equivalent to a refinery) or NO insurance.
All that investment comes at a cost. IIRC, a plastic bottled quart was $1000.00 quite some time back.

Citrus oil is probably holds title as most potentially hazardous natural product, outside radioactive or carcinogenic elements, and now maybe dairy farms. . .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Toolmaker51

If video orange ignited, and not Mr. odd one, is likely due to freshness, and thickness of the rind. The combustion is in the rind, not inside.
Thin skinned citrus has very little citric oil.

---

Thanks, That makes since. I had actually tried to demonstrate that to him by squeezing the rind into a flame, but did not seem to be able to get anything out of it. Maybe a redo is in order with a fresher orange and hold off on the thermite.

Good plan, hold off on Thermite; at many dozen arm lengths.

Squeezing fresh thick outside of rind near a flame, will produce plenty of arcs, mini flame-throwers. They extinguish quickly, with sufficient room to fall, not on a combustible surface. Not especially dangerous at that volume, other than a possible "should have. . ."

While not petroleum, obviously is 'vegetable'-based.