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Props to Fire Dept. for having some decent response code enforcement - I mean you would never put off a molten metal; it would burn forever, and while you add w
by joering2 6y ago
Props to Fire Dept. for having some decent response code enforcement - I mean you would never put off a molten metal; it would burn forever, and while you add water to it, it would only expand. AFAIK the only way to put it off is with sand.
- quickthrowman 6y ago> I mean you would never put off a molten metal; it would burn forever I doubt that, if it burned forever you could use it to heat water and spin a turbine and produce free power. If you meant “forever” as “a long time”, then sure :P It would eventually cool down after removing the source of heat keeping the metal molten, which are electric resistive heating elements (assuming it works like an aluminum smelter).
- dmlittle 6y agoIt would burn until all the metal has reacted. I think the point is that due to its chemical properties what you're using to try to "extinguish" the fire is actually fueling the reaction so not forever but you're certainly not helping.
- quickthrowman 6y agoOh, absolutely. Water would exacerbate things (as you said in your sibling comment), I was just being a smartass about the word “forever” :P
- dmlittle 6y agoI was curious as to the reason why water or CO2 can't be used to put off a metal fire. The TL;DR is that with a metal fire the high temperatures cause the H2O and CO2 molecules to be unstable enough that the metal can attract the oxygen molecules to fuel the ongoing fire rendering them useless as a fire suppressors. H2O is even worse as once the oxygen is split from the water molecule you are left with hydrogen which will combust and explosion might cause the molten fire to spread further. This doesn't happen with wood burning as the attraction to the oxygen molecules from the carbon being burnt is the same or stronger than the attraction from the CO2 or H2O molecules.
- moistbar 6y agoDo you think pure nitrogen would work in this situation?
- scythe 6y agoYou'd need tons. It's plausible but I don't think it's practical. Also, magnesium and titanium can burn in pure nitrogen, so it's not a panacea.
- pmiller2 6y agoProbably not. Nitrogen is roughly the same density as air. It would just get dispersed into the atmosphere before it could do much, unless you had insane amounts of it.
- jseutter 6y agoNitrogen wouldn't work in this situation. In fact nitrogen and aluminum will burn, forming AlN. Normally this doesn't happen because of Aluminum readily forms a "rust" layer in the presence of oxygen, and there isn't enough heat. Molten aluminum in a pure nitrogen environment wouldn't have that layer, and there likely would be enough heat.
- rtrdea 6y agoWhy are you guys saying put off
- tshaddox 6y agoOut of curiosity, what would happen if you quickly submerged the burning metal into a very large body of water?
- dmix 6y agoFire on the metal increases then ‘explosion’ the size of which depends on the metal type and quantity obviously https://youtu.be/tj7S_DNFgEU https://youtu.be/tj7S_DNFgEU Also alkali metals is fun https://youtu.be/I8tOtZKpi04 https://youtu.be/I8tOtZKpi04
- __turbobrew__ 6y agoClass D fire extinguishers can be used to put out metal fires. They are expensive however and not all fire departments have access to them. Class D fire extinguishers are used at air bases in my country to put out plane fires since our fighter jets are made out of a magnesium alloy which can burn.
- glsdfgkjsklfj 6y agoCan't wait for Elon's tweets praising CA public service.