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ENGR 403 - Fire Suppression

The document discusses different methods of fire suppression including water, gases, foams, dry powders, and fire retardants. It explains how each method works to suppress fires by removing one of the elements of the fire triangle. Water is the most common and absorbs heat through vaporization. Gases like CO2 work to displace oxygen. Foams and dry powders block oxygen or radiation. Fire retardants can interrupt chemical reactions during combustion.

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Ba Thanh Dinh
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24 views

ENGR 403 - Fire Suppression

The document discusses different methods of fire suppression including water, gases, foams, dry powders, and fire retardants. It explains how each method works to suppress fires by removing one of the elements of the fire triangle. Water is the most common and absorbs heat through vaporization. Gases like CO2 work to displace oxygen. Foams and dry powders block oxygen or radiation. Fire retardants can interrupt chemical reactions during combustion.

Uploaded by

Ba Thanh Dinh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fire suppression

ENGR 403 – Fire Engineering


Module 10

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Fire suppression
Suggested readings

z FEDG – Chapter 14, Fire Fighting Water Supplies


z FEDG – Chapter 8, Detection and Suppression
System Design

2
Fire suppression
Introduction

z Mechanisms
z Water
z Gases, foams and powders
z Fire retardants
Occupant Fire service
Automatic intervention
fire-fighting
systems

Ref : FEDG,

3 Figure 4.2
Fire suppression
The fire triangle

Heat
Reduce
heat

Heat causes
vaporisation and
maintains reaction
temperature

Remove Remove
fuel oxygen

Fuel Chemical reaction


Oxygen
21% in air
4 Interrupt chemical
reaction
Fire suppression
Introduction

z Some systems are designed to extinguish a fire


z In other cases a system might be used to control a
fire until extinguishment is achieved
‰ By another system
‰ Fire Service attendance
‰ Fuel is consumed
‰ Fuel is removed / shut-off

5
Fire suppression
Introduction

z Ideal extinguishing agents


‰ Non-flammable
‰ Mobile at -20 ˚C to 40 ˚C
‰ Non-toxic in its original form
‰ Not decompose into toxic products
‰ Not cause property damage
‰ Electrically non-conductive

z And in particular for liquids


‰ High heat of vaporisation
‰ Boiling point below the 250 ˚C to 450 ˚C pyrolysis
temperatures of common solids

6
Fire suppression
Introduction

z Wide range of liquids we could consider as


extinguishing agents

Friedman R. Principles of
Fire Protection Chemistry
and Physics, Table 14.1

7
Water

8
Fire suppression
Water

z Water is very effective at fire suppression


‰ High latent heat of vaporisation absorbs heat
‰ Steam displaces oxygen from combustion zone
‰ Wetting of neighbouring materials prevents ignition
‰ Clean, cheap, readily available

z Problems with freezing in cold climates


z Beware of contaminated water run-off
z Electrically conductive

9
Fire suppression
Water

z A litre of water absorbs 2.605 MJ when heated from 0 ˚C to


steam at 100 ˚C
z Thus the cooling power of water is 2.605 MW per litre per
second (L/s) of water
z Not all water applied to an incident will reach a fire or turned to
steam, defined as the cooling efficiency (kc)
z The value for kc is the subject of much debate but a values of
0.5, 0.35 or lower are suggested in the FEDG

10 FEDG, Figure 14.1


Fire suppression
Water

z Water delivery by
‰ Sprinkler systems
‰ Water mist systems
‰ Some hand-held fire extinguishers
‰ Fire hoses
‰ Buckets etc!

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pg
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portingGraphics/thumb/29764
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Gases, foams and powders

12
Fire suppression
Gas flood

z We can introduce non-combustible gases into a space to


displace oxygen
‰ Carbon dioxide
‰ Nitrogen (and nitrogen mixtures)

z Other gas flood system introduce chemicals that affect the


reaction mechanisms

z Typically used in computer rooms,


machinery spaces, micro-chip
fabrication, sensitive historic artefacts

Source: www.osha.gov

13
Fire suppression
Gas flood

z Typical advantages
‰ Systems rapidly control a fire
‰ Less extinguishment agent compared with water
‰ O2 displacement causes less damage to contents

z And disadvantages
‰ Spaces need to be reasonably well sealed
‰ People need to evacuate spaces depending on the gas
used
‰ Systems can be expensive
‰ Systems that affect reactions may produce corrosive
chemicals as a by-product

14
Fire suppression
Gas flood

z Halons used to be popular fire extinguishing agents


z Very effective and reasonably non-toxic (at
concentrations <7%)
z Now phased out because of environmental effects

15
Fire suppression
Foams

z Foams used to smother fires and thus prevent


oxygen reaching fuel
z Foams have some cooling effects
z Commonly used for flammable liquid fires
z Detergent or organic protein based chemicals used
to make foam

16
Fire suppression
Foams

z Different foams have different applications and


properties
‰ Depend on fuel types
‰ Fixed or mobile installations

z Applications – aircraft hangers, petrochemical fires,


fuel storage, forest fires, kitchen hoods

www.nasa.gov/images/content/143634m www.lcacc.org/environment/index.html
ain_foamdump_300.jpg

17
Fire suppression
Dry powders

z Dry chemical powders


‰ Affect chemical reaction in flame
‰ Absorb heat
‰ Block radiation from flame to fuel
‰ Forms surface coating

z Projected by an inert gas


z Agents used for small flammable liquid fires, electrical fires
z Powders may form corrosive compounds
z Baking soda (NaHCO3 – sodium bicarbonate), common salt
(NaCl – sodium chloride) and others are used as dry powders

18
Fire suppression
Miscellaneous

z Other fire suppression mechanisms…

z Remove fuel using manual or automatic shut-off

z Smother the fire


‰ Sand
‰ Fire blanket

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feu-p1010028.jpg
Fire retardants

20
Fire suppression
Fire retardants

z Interrupt chemical reactions using fire retardants


z Modify organic materials with additional chemicals
‰ Make ignition more difficult
‰ Reduce the burning rate

z Various chemical compounds used as fire retardants


‰ Polyurethane foams fire-retarded using halogen compounds
(chlorine or bromine)
‰ Woods may incorporate a wide range of inorganic salts although
not commonly applied in New Zealand
‰ Organic phosphorus compounds used as plasticisers for polymers

z The concentration of fire retardants added to actual


materials will not prevent combustion completely
21
Fire suppression
Fire retardants

z Four main mechanisms involved with fire retardants


z Generally two or more mechanisms act at once
‰ Promotion of char formation and reduction in formation of
flammable gases
‰ Release of gases that extinguish gaseous combustion
reactions
‰ Endothermic decomposition that absorbs heat
‰ Formation of glaze or foam barrier that isolates fuel

22

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