Too expensive and wouldn’t be very effective as some of it would absorb into the ground.
Besides that, very cool.
Dumped from a plane it becomes nitrogen gas. About 80percent of the atmosphere is nitrogen. Save it for apple storage.
Forest fires tend to be a lot larger than swimming pools.
I think the main reason this method is not used to fight forest fires is the astronomical cost of generating and transporting a sufficient quantity of liquid nitrogen to effectively fight a large fire.
Thermal plume dissipation.
It would make most of the incoming liquid nitrogen turn to gas.
Forest fires have higher heat output.
Pretty cool. Two problems with this I immediately see. Logistics and costs of transporting subzero extinguishing material and the amount that could be applied. Water when it is dumped or sprayed also has this damping effect— and very similar after the heat of the fire create gaseous water vapor. And it can be scooped up in large amounts from nearby lakes and it doesn’t kill all life form if the dump or application not perfect (a tanker dumps some liquid Nitrogen in an area where firefighters are it will suffocate them. Water won’t.
Probably too heavy for airplanes with all the refrigeration equipment required. Also, it wouldn’t spread on land like it did on that pool. Wildfires don’t happen on water.
I’m a volunteer firefighter, BTW.
Cool video, though.
It would kill anyone near it.................
One thing they do use on structures in forest fires is the innards of disposable diapers. The beads/gel actually hold enough water to discourage ignition.
Screwing around with liquid nitrogen without safety equipment is a BAD idea.
Actually, Fires in some forests are a good thing for the stand. As in oak stands. Fires in softwood forest are a bad thing.
But, having said that, forest fires are one of the biggest polluters on the planet right behind volcanos.
A fire in the perma frost region and the result is a constant release of carbon from the ground for years after the initial release. Millions of acres are left to burn out each year in those areas worldwide.
Yet they wont let us log to prevent these fires.
I got about 50 year experience in the forest products industry and the number one preventor of sustainable forest practices are the watermellons.
Think of this. 20% of the gross reciepts from federal timber sale bids are to go to local schools in the area. How many schools could use this money in those poor areas?
Just install fire hydrants thru-out the millions of acres of forest. Then train bears to operate.
There would be no residual effect. And difficult to disperse over a wide area.
If it were possible to get at a reasonable cost, a Halon-based extinguisher (which puts out flames by chemical action rather than by smothering, and has a low toxicity to people and animals) would be the way to go.
Liquid nitrogen, in quantity, is about 1,000x more expensive than liquid water. Also, keeping it liquid while you are trying to get it to a fire requires massive amounts of specialized cooling equipment to keep it at -320 degrees F. Handling equipment is also problematic; one can’t just pump it through a fire hose, the hose would facture or explode.
Also, except for the immediate removal of heat in the area where it strikes the ground/water/flames, it returns to it’s gaseous state almost immediately. As a gas, it can only smother a fire where water can smother and remove heat over longer periods of time.
It’s just not worth it.
BTW: That idiot in the video with no protective gear on is lucky to have any skin left on his hands, feet or legs! A slip and he would have instantly frozen his skin and probably lost toes and fingers.
hmmm - what if you dropped pressurized containers of liquid nitrogen into the hottest parts of the fire - the resulting explosion and pressure wave might act similar to the way they use nitro/dynamite to shutoff oil-well fires. Wouldn’t want to do it anywhere near a firefighter due to possible shrapnel, but....
Crazy energy to make liquid nitrogen. and you would need A LOT OF IT.
His voice sounds like that genius guy on “Criminal Minds.”
I keep trying to talk them into commissioning me into building one of these!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOlq6RRh3sg