Mapua University

School of School of Chemical, Biological, and

Materials Engineering and Sciences

Chemistry for Engineers Lecture

First Quarter SY 2019-2020

“Alternative Fire Extinguisher”

CM011-B10 Group No. 4

Juniosa, Vheneace
Lictaoa, Redemptor
Lorenzo, Francis
Manalili, Alessandra
Manlongat, Chandler
Marquez, Nicolo
Mendoza, Kyrille Ira
 1. Introduction:
There is more to fire than just the emission of heat and light. Fire is a chemical process of
combustion involving the oxidation of a fuel source at a high temperature. This combustion can
destroy all your possessions in less than one hour and it can destroy your lives. According to
records of the Bureau of Fire Protection, the average of fire incidents every year is 15,545 or 42
fire incidents a day and an average of 251 deaths every year. There are four elements of fire, also
known as the fire tetrahedron. Oxygen, heat, fuel and chemical reaction. These elements must be
present in order for a fire to exist. When you remove one of the four elements, the fire can then
be extinguished. This is where fire extinguishers come in. But before tackling about fire
extinguishers, everyone should be educated that fire extinguishers are designed for specific types
of fires.
In accordance with Marsden Fire Safety (2019), there are six different classes of fires,
and several types of fire extinguishers. Classes of fire are known as; Class A, Class B, Class C,
Class D, Electrical, and Class F. Class A are fires involving solid materials such as wood, paper
or textiles, Class B are fires involving flammable liquids such as petrol, diesel, or paints, class C
are fire from gases while class D are from metals. Electrical, from the word itself is for fires
involving electrical apparatus, and lastly, class F is for fires involving cooking oils such as deep-
fat fryers. These classes of fires can only be put out by specific type of extinguishers. Make sure
to know what type of fire extinguisher to use for a specific class of fire for safety since it might
make the fire worse and remember that there is no one extinguisher type which works on all
classes of fire. Fire extinguisher is an active protection used to put out or control small fires
usually in emergency situations. For an overview, below are the types of fire extinguishers and
the classes of fires it is intended for (Surrey Fire, 2019).

TYPE CLASS CLASS CLASS CLASS ELECTRICAL CLASS F

A B C D
WATER
FOAM
DRY
POWDER
CO2
WET
CHEMICA
L

According to the Bureau of Fire Protection, the top three cause of fires are electrical
connection, lighted cigarette butt and open flame, thus the decision of the students to focus on
CO2 fire extinguishers which are specifically for electrical equipment, class B and C fires.
From the name itself, CO2 fire extinguishers has carbon dioxide as its main component.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a non-flammable gas that extinguishes fire by displacing oxygen, which
is one of the four elements that must be present for a combustion to occur (fuel, oxygen,
heat/energy, and chemical reaction) as mentioned earlier. By applying Ideal Gas Law, it can be
calculated that CO2 is heavier or have higher density than O2. In refer to the statement by UCSB
Science Line (2017), oxygen have density of 1.429 g/L while carbon dioxide has density of
1.977 g/L, making it 1.383 times heavy as oxygen.

2. Methodology:
Objectives:
 Create an improvised CO2 fire extinguisher
 Demonstrate the steps to easily generate carbon dioxide gas that can be used to
replace the oxygen supply and to a fire, hence, to extinguish it.
Materials:

 Small Box of baking soda

 vinegar (weak acetic acid)
 bottle/jar with lid, with a hole in the lid
 Scissors
 1 small candle
 Match or lighter
 1 bendy straw

Procedure
1. Fill the 350mL bottle with 30 mL of vinegar. (fig 1 (a))
2. To use the fire extinguisher, drop in 1 teaspoon of baking soda. (fig 1 (b))
3. After dropping the baking soda, immediately close the bottle with lid then point
the straw towards the fire, squeezing the body of the bottle. (fig 1 (c))
4. Test out your fire extinguisher in a small scale of fire from the rubbing alcohol, so
you will know what the result will be, or what to expect in this experiment. (fig 1
(d))

A. B.

C. D.
 Fig. 1. (a) addition of vinegar; (b) addition of baking soda; (c) using of the prototype; (d) close-up view

3. Interpretation:
The overall reaction is:
HC2H3O2 + NaHCO3  NaC2H3O2 + H2CO3  NaC2H3O2 + CO2 + H20
Many acids react with carbonates to produce carbon dioxide, water, and an ionic compound. In
our experiment we mix acetic acid (vinegar) and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), to produce
sodium acetate (an ionic compound) and carbonic acid. The carbonic acid is very unstable and
decomposes spontaneously into water and carbon dioxide, which is a gas. The carbon dioxide
gas does not support combustion.
According to Safety Information Site (n.d.), a CO2 extinguisher is not a good choice for a Type
A fire, (wood, paper, cloth), because of the force of the CO2 gas being expelled from the
extinguisher. When this type of extinguisher is used on a wood, paper or cloth fire, the burning
items are blown around the room by the force of the CO2 gas, thereby aiding the spread of the
fire. Secondly, a Type A fire will usually reignite as soon as the CO2 gas dissipates.
The CO2 extinguisher works well on a flammable liquid or an electrical fire – Types B or C
fires. They work well on an electrical fire in that they do not leave a messy residue on delicate
electrical equipment such as a dry chemical extinguisher would. The CO2 displaces the oxygen
at the surface of the fire, effectively smothering the fire. However, the fire can re-ignite once the
CO2 gas dissipates if the ignition source has not been removed.
A class C fire requires an agent that can break apart the elements that feed a fire: oxygen, heat,
and fuel. Carbon dioxide (CO2) extinguishers smother a fire by eliminating the oxygen. They
also suppress the fire’s heat because their discharge is very cold. Similarly, dry chemical
extinguishers work to separate the elements of a fire. The fire dies when the oxygen and fuel can
no longer interact due to the chemicals introduced by a dry chemical extinguisher [ CITATION Str \l
13321 ].
Class D fires can only be put out by a dry powder fire extinguisher. It can cause significant
damage and are not simple to put out. This works by smothering the fire, and therefore the
oxygen within it, and also absorbing the heat contained within the fire, eventually leading to its
extinction. Powder fire extinguishers will also stop the burning metal or powder from spreading,
reducing the spread and resulting devastation of the fire [ CITATION VOE15 \l 13321 ]

4. Conclusion:
The objective of this experiment was to show the reaction of vinegar and baking soda and its
production of carbon dioxide as an alternative fire extinguisher. The produced CO 2 can smother a
flame by displacing oxygen, effectively stopping the combustion reaction. The created prototype
consisted of bottle with a makeshift nozzle made by puncturing the bottle cap and fixing a straw
through the cap. The device was tested by mixing baking soda and vinegar inside the bottle then
igniting a small sample of ethanol. The produced carbon dioxide was then sprayed into the fire to
put it out. An extinguisher of this kind would only be effective for class B, class C and electrical
fires.

5. Recommendations:
Based from the drawn conclusions, the following are hereby recommended:
1. Since it was shown that it was effective in putting out small class B and electrical fires,
the students humbly recommend the feasible use of this alternative fire extinguisher;
2. Since the experiment showed a cheaper way to extinguish small-scale class B fires and.
theoretically, electrical fires, the students respectfully recommend the conduct of a follow up
study to determine other potential alternatives in extinguishing the other types of fires where
the materials or ingredients that would be used could commonly be found on a household.

6. References:
[1] Helmenstine, A. (2019, July 4). Thought.Co. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com:
https://www.thoughtco.com/homemade-fire-extinguisher-science-project-607541
[2] Safety Information Site. (n.d.). Safety Information Site. Retrieved from
https://ssl.eas.ualberta.ca: https://ssl.eas.ualberta.ca/safety/?page_id=197
[3] Strike First Corporation of America. (n.d.). Strike First Corporation of America.
Retrieved from http://www.strikefirstusa.com:
http://www.strikefirstusa.com/2016/06/class-c-fire-extinguishers-electrical-fires/
[4] VOELKERT, C. (2015). Amerex Fire. Retrieved from https://www.amerex-fire.com:
https://www.amerex-fire.com/upl/downloads/educational-documents/fire-and-fire-
extinguishment-99cd88b2.pdf
[5] UCSB Science Line. (n.d.). What is Heavier: Oxygen or Carbon Dioxide. Retrieved from
http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=2966
[6] Marsden Fire Safety. (2019). Fire Extinguishers. Retrieved from https://www.marsden-
fire-safety.co.uk/resources/fire-extinguishers
[7] Surrey Fire. (2019). Types of Fire Extinguisher – All You Need to Know in 2019,
Explained in our Simple Guide. Retrieved from https://www.marsden-fire-
safety.co.uk/resources/fire-extinguishers
 Names of Members Contribution Participation Grade
Juniosa, Vheneace  Made the PowerPoint presentation 10/10
 Made the discussion about fire in the
Introduction
Lictaoa, Redemptor  Made the results and discussions part of the 10/10
report
 Helped in establishing the chemical
explanation of the experiment
 Made the “Conclusion” part of the report.
Lorenzo, Francis  Wrote the beneficiaries part of the report 9/10
Manalili, Alessandra  Videographer of the experiment 9/10
 Researched the importance of fire types and
its connection to fire extinguishers
Manlongat,  Was the one who thought of the topic 10/10
Chandler  Made the results and discussions part of the
report.
 Established the chemical explanation of the
experiment
Marquez, Nicolo  Made the Methodology part of the report 7/10
Mendoza, Kyrille Ira  Made the PowerPoint presentation 10/10
 Made the Statistics part of the Introduction
 Researched the importance of fire types and
its connection to fire extinguishers
Peer Evaluation