Fire Extinguisher Innovation Based In Nature

Many of today's greatest innovations are based upon principals and mechanisms found in nature. One mechanism which shows great potential for use in contemporary technology is the defense mechanism of the Bombardier Beetle, which uses exothermic reactions to heat and pressurize a chemical compound before releasing it towards its attacker. A fire extinguisher using this same principal has the potential to be lighter as well as have a greater range and effectiveness, than traditional fire extinguishers. We endeavor to design and build a mock-up of such a fire extinguisher. We first focus on the pressurized heating chamber where cartridge heaters, driven by batteries, initiate the phase change of the water. We use ANSYS simulations to test different chamber geometries and heater configurations to optimize the balance between heating requirements and weight limitations.