Dragons, an imaginary species and yet everywhere in our daily lives! Films, books, brands, decorative objects … Dragons swarm on our planet! Some are even stars: Dracaufeu, Krokmou, Smaug… The list is long! These legendary animals fascinate us with their incredible capacities. They can fly, they are intelligent, gigantic … and they spit fire! It is most certainly this characteristic that makes them so exceptional. But how would it be possible? If the dragons existed, what mechanisms would they deploy to create and spit such beautiful flames?
For a combustion to start, three elements are necessary:
- A fuel,
- A comburant,
- An activation energy.
The fuel corresponds to any material that can burn and feed the fire. Spontaneously, we will think in particular of the papers or the wood. But let's not also forget certain liquids (such as petrol) and gases (methane, propane, etc.).
The comburant is a substance that allows you to initiate or maintain combustion of fuel. Very generally, it is the oxygen of the air.
Finally, activation energy is a heat source that will help set fire to the powder (literally). These sources of energy are multiple: sparks, chemical reactions, friction …
>> Read also: What is a “storm of fire”?
The fire triangle in dragons
What would be this fire triangle with our Dragons friends? What elements would allow them to spit flames?
The comburant is quite obvious. If they existed on earth, the dragons would live, like us, in an atmosphere rich in oxygen. They could therefore breathe … and maintain their combustion!
Gas? Not such a good idea
For fuel, we could look for it on the gas side. The dragons would be huge gas reservoirs … methane in particular. Like cows! Yes, the latter produce a lot of methane during the digestion of the plants they eat. We then encounter a first difficulty. In order for the dragons to have enough gas to produce a large amount of flames, they should have a diet close to that of a cow. However, we rarely see the dragons grazing …
In addition, gas tends to expand to fill the available space. In order not to look like a barrel, which would no longer be very impressive, the dragon should therefore be able to keep it under pressure. Currently, there is no terrestrial animal capable of storing high pressure gases.
Gases are also difficult to control. If a dragon was blowing ardent gas, the flames could fall on the dragon's head and burn it, especially because of the wind.
>> Read also: the figure of the dragon, from its roots to its wings
So a liquid?
A fuel can also be in liquid form. It is often heard that alcohol is flammable, especially because of the ethanol it contains.
A liquid would offer better control to the dragons of their flames and would prevent them from burning. The most effective would be a combination of liquid and gas. The two elements would ignite as soon as they come into contact with the air, in the same way as an flammable aerosol. Tiny droplets of liquid are suspended in a pressure gas. When you project this aerosol and come into contact with the air, the flames spring up!
What liquid can our dragons use? In the wild, many liquids burn. Some living beings naturally produce it, it is the case of ethanol and methanol. Swelling, for example, transform sugars into alcohol.
However, they are not found only in the industry-agrifice. In the wild, they are also part of the intestinal microbiota of many animals, including humans. We could therefore consider dragons with a belly full of yeasts and therefore capable of producing ethanol.
Or else, the dragons copy the capacities … of a fish! The researchers have noticed that a very special fish, the Cyprinodon diabolisis able to produce ethanol when the ambient oxygen level becomes too low to allow it to breathe.
This little fish is among the most threatened species in the world. It lies in a unique place, which is called The devil's holeand which is located in Nevada, in the United States. This Devil's hole is a particularly hostile environment, with very high temperatures and quantities of oxygen dissolved in fairly low water. However, the little fish likes and lives there. It has indeed found the way to produce its energy without oxygen, which, on the other hand, produces ethanol.
Maybe the dragons produce their ethanol in the same way? Despite everything, it still arises the problem of storing this alcohol. It quickly crosses organic membranes and quickly ends up in the blood circulation. Currently, there is no natural organ capable of storing ethanol long -term …
>> Read also: is the hypercroissance of the three dragons in Game of Thrones credible?
And what about activation energy in dragons?
Dragons require many biological adaptations to be able to create flames.
Credits: Shutterstock
We talked about the comburant, we talked about the fuels … But let's not forget the third element that would allow dragons to spit flames: activation energy.
Strong flint to produce a flame seems simple … Could dragons hide flint somewhere? Why not in a gizzard? This organized organ to store the stones they swallow. A practice that could be found strange but which is in fact an aid to digestion since birds have no teeth.
What if in the dragons these stones were flints? One could then imagine that these flints rub against the scales of the dragons, so hard, that they allow the creation of sparks.
The dragon has only to expire its gaz-liquid mixture and the latter will ignite at the level of the gizzard, in his throat.
Some chemicals do not need this initial energy. Maybe they are the dragons stored? Pyrophoric materials are a subset of materials that ignite spontaneously in the presence of air. Phosphorus, for example, is the best known material. Maybe the dragons would be able to store and eject them?
Iron can also be an interesting track. Not as such, but mixing with hydrogen sulfide, a flammable gas that smells of rotten egg. When these two elements mix, this creates iron sulfide. If the latter comes into contact with the air, he explodes.
We would then be dealing with dragons bombs…
In short, nature is not yet ready to let go on the planet of the monsters spitting fire, fortunately, but the dragons will not stop making us dream!
>> Read also: You play: ready to flush out dragons at home?
With an unwavering passion for local news, Christopher leads our editorial team with integrity and dedication. With over 20 years’ experience, he is the backbone of Wouldsayso, ensuring that we stay true to our mission to inform.
