Dragon fire theories! How does it work?

[Yodeling Ice Maelstrom]

In my unpublished novel, I have it as follows: A dragon has an organ, known as a fire-sac, which holds a flammable fluid. This fluid ignites with friction, so the whole ignition system is lined with mucus. When the dragon sprays this fluid past the rough surface of its teeth, the fluid catches fire. It's a simple idea, but it does mean that a wound to the side could potentially cause a dragon to explode.

What other ideas are out there?

 

[GenetoJean]

The dragon produces two chemicals when mixed produce the fire. The basically just spit the two chemicals out and they mix as they leave the dragons mouth.

 

[keith99]

Most of the time Dragons are part of fantasy and no explaination is given.

If set on a terestrial world worrying about fire and just passing by having something that size fly is like choking on gnats after swallowing a camel.

Heinlein had (non flying) dragon like critters who basically belched out swamp gas, e.g. natural methane from digestion and had something ot ignite it.

Why Dragons 'breath' fire is really only of interest if it helps define the limits on the ability (or gives rise to possible 'backfire' issues like the OP presents).

 

[cutekittycat]

i like anne mccaffrey's explanation on her world's dragon and how they breath fire.

 

[Yodeling Ice Maelstrom]

Most of the time Dragons are part of fantasy and no explaination is given.

If set on a terestrial world worrying about fire and just passing by having something that size fly is like choking on gnats after swallowing a camel.

Heinlein had (non flying) dragon like critters who basically belched out swamp gas, e.g. natural methane from digestion and had something ot ignite it.

Why Dragons 'breath' fire is really only of interest if it helps define the limits on the ability (or gives rise to possible 'backfire' issues like the OP presents).

That is very correct. The exception would be if a culture, say one with fortified cities and a special army unit to deal with aggressive dragons, culled such a beast and dissected it to infer its anatomy, in hopes of improving the stand sentient races can make against dragons.

 

[zijincheng]

We could use the same mechanism as an engine, eg when a dragon opens its mouth, its teeth grind together as they open, creating sparks, and the flammable liquid from the sac is ignited by the sparks, creating fire.

What do you think?

 

[keith99]

We could use the same mechanism as an engine, eg when a dragon opens its mouth, its teeth grind together as they open, creating sparks, and the flammable liquid from the sac is ignited by the sparks, creating fire.

What do you think?

Sure and actually not that far removed from how some poison spitting animals work.

Hmm yuo could even have a multiweapon dragon. Fire and one or more poisons.

 

[zijincheng]

Sure and actually not that far removed from how some poison spitting animals work.

Hmm yuo could even have a multiweapon dragon. Fire and one or more poisons.

What about a catapult? It could launch flaming rocks

 

[Orange Kitten Bob]

Chinese Type 95 AA tank would chop up dragons easily. They aren't like Godzilla.

 

[Ripheus27]

When I read Dante's Paradiso, I found out that people used to think that lightning was fire. We know of animals that can produce electric shocks, so perhaps dragons could be a class of animals who produce extreme electric shocks, and people, thinking that electricity of a certain kind was incandescent, would conclude that dragons had the power of self-generated incandescence.