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Old 23rd Aug 2009, 14:25
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barit1
 
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Depends on the extinguishing media.

Halon is a low-specific-heat gas that does not result in shock cooling of the hot engine cases, and is thus fairly benign to an engine's integrity.

Other gases - perhaps more environmentally friendly - have higher specific heat values, and the shock cooling they cause is not good to compressor/turbine cases, which after all are highly loaded pressure vessels.

So the choice of extinguishant is a tug-of-war between the engineering camp and the greenies.
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