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| Carbon Dioxide Fire Extinguisher Picture |
Carbon Dioxide Fire Extinguisher is often effective at extinguishing class B fires, class C fires, and even some class A fires; but it is never used on class D fires. The vapor density of carbon dioxide is 1.52, making it about 1.5 times more dense than air. Thus, when applied to a fire, carbon dioxide smothers it by preventing contact between the burning material and atmospheric oxygen.
Unlike water, carbon dioxide does not ordinarily damage the fire area. It is considered a "clean" fire extinguisher.Being gaseous at normal temperature and pressure conditions, it dissipates into the surrounding atmosphere after having been discharged from its containment vessel.
To be effective at extinguishing a fire, carbon dioxide should ideally be applied in areas where the atmosphere is calm, such as within buildings. Even in a calm environment, firefighters need to apply carbon dioxide even after the fire extinguished, this cools the burning material. Otherwise, the heat generated by the burning materials causes the carbon dioxide to rapidly dissipate into the atmosphere. Then, the hot material again contact atmospheric oxygen, and the fire can ignite!
Some fire extinguisher produce carbon dioxide by chemical action with other substances. The once popular soda-acid fire extinguisher is an example of one that uses a chemical reaction to produce carbon dioxide. "Soda" is the common name of sodium bicarbonate. Separate solutions of soda and sulfuric acid are arranged so that when the assembly is inverted, the two mix together. The resulting chemical reaction produces carbon dioxide as denoted by following equation:
2NaHCO3(aq) + H2SO4 (aq) -> Na2SO4 (aq) + 2H2O (l) + CO2 (g)
The principal danger posed by the use of a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher is the threat of asphyxiation. When applied to a fires, the carbon dioxide plume replaces the ground-level air. Exposed to carbon dioxide, individuals within the treated area would lose consciousness. That are many advantage and disadvantage of Carbon Dioxide Fire Extinguisher. Thanks for visiting our website.