Study on fire extinguishing performance of different foam extinguishing agents in diesel pool fire

Abstract

The physical properties and fire extinguishing performance in diesel fire of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) and protein foam (PF) were studied, and the fire extinguishing mechanism of different foams were also analyzed. The results show that 6%AFFF and 6%PF have better performance than that of 3%AFFF and 3%PF, respectively, and AFFF possess higher expansion ratio, 25% drainage time and surface tension than PF at the same concentration. The fire extinguishing test show that the extinguishing performance of foam enhanced with the increase of gas-liquid ratio firstly, and decreased subsequently. The best fire extinguishing performance were achieved when gas-liquid ratio of 6%AFFF and 6%PF were 17 and 20, and the extinguishing agent dosage were 229 ml and 260 ml, respectively. Compared with PF, the fire extinguishing time and agent dosage of AFFF are reduced by 10% and 6.15% respectively at gas-liquid ratio of 20. Besides, AFFF can form more dense, stable and high-multiple foam cover layer, endow it with better fire extinguishing performance than PF. However, PF can reduce the temperature around the oil pool more quickly, showing better cooling effect than AFFF.

Keywords

• Aqueous film-forming foam
• Protein foam
• Diesel pool fire
• Fire extinguishing properties
• Cooling rate