The short answer is that the fire extinguisher may rupture violently, but it won't "explode" in the sense of a detonation.
Any pressure vessel can rupture suddenly if it is exposed to more pressure than it is designed to contain.
That includes fire extinguishers that are heated to the point that the internal pressure exceeds the container's ability to withstand it.
tq sir,
if exposed to high heat, has the gift of fire extinguishers are other safety features that do not break the jar?
as I can see in this video, fire extinguishers, and if it breaks occurred in a building may be dangerous to the safety of persons residing in the vicinity. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roRXensDy54&feature=related
The heat required to rupture a fire extinguisher is a greater hazard to people than the risk of the fire extinguisher's rupture. The heat will either drive the people out of the area or kill them before the fire extinguisher is heated enough to rupture.
This assumes that the extinguisher is inside a burning building.
If you place a fire extinguisher on a bonfire, the results could be different.
Don't do that, even to test the theory.
Permalink Reply by imran on November 14, 2010 at 10:26am
Before this, I think the fire extinguisher will release the pressure when exposed to high heat with a safety valve. never thought it would break like that..
but whether the fire extinguisher is the same as we use in our country that followed the BS standard.
Dry chemical fire extinguishers today are pressurized to 195 psi. I've come across a few during fires, but none that I'm aware of have exploded. If the fire melts away the guage or in some cases, the plastic valve, the extinguisher will just discharge through the breeched area. Now CO2 extinguishers are pressurized to a much higher psi, but they also have a relief on the valve. That being said, I've seen photos of a fire extinguisher service van in which a CO2 extinguisher exploded due to the wrong seal being installed in the relief. It was during a hot summer day and as the pressure built up inside the extinguisher, the relief failed to activate due to the wrong seal being installed, causing the pressure to build until the cylinder failed explosively. Tore the hell out of the van, luckily no one was injured!
Sort of. Most fire extinguishers are manually activated, however there are some that are fitted with a "sprinkler head" type of device where the manually operated valve would be. These are activated by heat much like a sprinkler head.
I don't know what that was above the stove. It looked like a balloon filled with baking soda or something. I'm talking about the kind of fire extinguisher in the second link; just a stored pressure dry chemical extinguisher.