Mayhem said:Well without the extensive experience you are Googling for, ask yourself this question? How does a CO2 fire extinguisher work?
Essentially, you are trying to reproduce a similar unit, although you wish to have a higher stream and that I suspect is going to be determined by pressure and nozzle size and shape.
The long nozzle on the extinguisher is there to focus and concentrate the CO2 and your nozzle would be smaller than this. As I previously mentioned, the ones used by Motley Crue were only about 3 or 4 inches high and probably no more than 2 inches in diameter.
The pipe is going to need to be at least a half inch in diameter I think and for R&D purposes, I would use a ballcock valve to gauge the flow rate required. Whilst I have never pulled an extinguisher apart, my guess is that it would open the valve fully.
Pressure in the canister is also going to play a role in getting the desired effect and off the top of my head, I cannot recall what a CO2 extinguisher is set at. To be honest, I cannot even recall if it shows pressure or just a charge/good indicator.
One problem you will probably encounter will be icing due to components getting too cold and this may be due to too small diameters or too high a flow rate or a combination of the two.
I guess that you are going to do some experimentation with what you have lying around and what you can pull together.
My advice is this:
1. Speak to a local company that services fire extinguishers and ask them for their thoughts and comments on such a system. They should be able to help you with flow rates, diameters and the likes.
2. Whatever you try out, make sure that you are protected and at the very least wearing safety glasses and a long sleeved top and jeans. This stuff can give a nasty burn and you sure as hell don’t want to get it in your eyes.
3. The pressure could cause the nozzle and hose to fly about so make sure it is securely fastened.
4. Test is in a well ventilated area and have someone with you in case you do get injured.
5. Do not say “oh what the hell” and use a CO2 fire extinguisher as the FX. Fire extinguishers should be used for one thing only - Fighting fires. Now I know that several people will disagree with me and tell me they do it all the time. My reasoning is that should a fire break out and the extinguishers emptied to get a cool FX, I am not going to be a happy camper.
I believe that a CO2 extinguisher is operating at a pressure in the vicinity of 6MPa. I can see only one possible reason why a fire extinguisher could be used for FX and that is when it has been brought in specially and is not needed as part of the building's fire plan, but it would normally be easier just to say don't do it.