3
$\begingroup$

The dragon, through a gland, produces a flammable oil from the fat of the animals it has eaten, the oil is stored in a bag, the blood circulation around the bag increases, heating the oil to the point that it catches fire on contact with the air, the oil comes out from two mouth tubes, one on each side, the tubes are in the mouth to help you aim better.

Details: My dragon is the same as the Game of Thrones Drogon when Khaleesi first flew it, that's the maximum size the species can get (however, with bigger wings to be more proportionate as, from what I've researched, the Those dragons' wings aren't big enough compared to their bodies, so they couldn't be 100% physically correct, plus my dragons have more membrane on their wings following the logic of bat wings). The dragon is hot blooded. I still don't have a way to explain how the dragon will withstand a hot oil inside him without disastrous consequences. If you like, you can suggest another way for the dragon to light the oil.

$\endgroup$
1
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Don't know how safe it'd be all in all for the dragon but since it has a bag that stores oil perhaps this oil could instead be used to safely store large amounts of potasium or sodium? Assuming an accessible source is present or can be accumulated over time, an oil-based saliva and inner coating would make the collection of them less suicidal to use than it would be for other creatures, and then a second squirt gland of sorts could be used to wash away the oil covering the material(after oil vomit) and expose them to water, some chemical reactions later, you basically have a fire starter. $\endgroup$
    – Rubrikon
    Nov 13, 2021 at 17:05

1 Answer 1

1
$\begingroup$

Oil ignition temperature varies with the oil type, but generally is around or above 200 C/400 F. Blood circulation cannot increase the temperature of something above the temperature of the blood itself, therefore what you propose could work only if the dragon blood temperature was around or above 200 C/400 F.

A more plausible way would be to use something which exothermically reacts to produce temperature peaks that ignite the oil, something like the mixture used by the bombardier beetle but on steroids, because that only reaches about 100 C.

$\endgroup$
4
  • $\begingroup$ What if the inner wall of the oil bag held heat and kept it from getting out, building up heat until it reached about 100 degrees Celsius, and the chemical mix from the bomber beetle did the rest? Do you think it could work? $\endgroup$ Nov 13, 2021 at 8:39
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @WizardKing You can't "build up heat" just so, you need to actively pump it up against a temperature differential. So, you dragon should have a heat pump too? Alternatively, just run an internal fire that's hotter than the maximum temperature you want the oil to reach. $\endgroup$ Nov 16, 2021 at 1:13
  • $\begingroup$ But how the dragon will going to keep a fire inside itself without it burning up inside? $\endgroup$ Nov 17, 2021 at 7:05
  • $\begingroup$ Or would the fire only be lit at the moment of the attack? $\endgroup$ Nov 17, 2021 at 7:08

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .