[kergonath]

> That's not actually quite how it works.

What you wrote is not contradicting the parent, who just said that it was “super effective at starving the fire of oxygen”. You just described the mechanism. You also contradict yourself by first saying that halon is inert, and then that it neutralises oxide ions by swapping halogens, which is the opposite of non-reactive. The effect of that is that it immobilises reactive oxygen before it oxidises the fuel. And it indeed does nothing to decrease the temperature, which does mean that the fire restarts as soon as oxygen is re-introduced. I know you’re not wrong, but the delivery could be improved.

Anyway, you can elaborate and provide information without disagreeing with the comment you’re replying to. It’s fine, and often informative.

[cyberax]

Typically, "starving of oxygen" means that there's not enough oxygen around anymore. That's how CO2 extinguishers work, for example. They literally remove enough of the oxygen to make the combustion stop.

Halon does NOT remove the oxygen, there's always plenty of it available. Instead, it stops the chain reaction.

> You also contradict yourself by first saying that halon is inert, and then that it neutralises oxide ions by swapping halogens, which is the opposite of non-reactive.

As I said, you can mix halon and oxygen, and they won't react (even if you try to ignite them). Halon is very unreactive, but it's obviously not _totally_ inert like helium.

[userbinator]

As I said, you can mix halon and oxygen, and they won't react (even if you try to ignite them).

That makes me wonder if any of the original designers of the oxygen system considered whether a halon-oxygen mix would've been better than pure oxygen.

[cyberax]

Not really. Adding oxygen for sure won't help. Also halon is stored in extinguishers as a pressurized liquid, not gas.

[wkat4242]

As far as I understood it reduces temperature also because it boils so easily (very low boiling point). That pulls energy from the fuel. As well as capturing oxygen.

This is why it was used as a refrigerant also.

Also if the fuel is below the auto ignition temperature but above flashpoint it would need another spark to re-ignite.