Improving the performance of fluoroprotein foam in extinguishing gasoline pool fires with addition of bromofluoropropene

The fluoroprotein foam is one of the most widely used fire suppressants for its low cost, low toxicity and biodegradability. However, its fire extinguishing performance is limited. In this article, fluoroprotein foam was combined with a clean and degradable fire suppressant of 2-bromo-3,3,3-trifluoropropene (BTP) to improve its fire extinguishing efficiency. Laboratory scale suppression experiments on gasoline pool fires were conducted in a 27m(3) confined space. An optimized volume flow ratio of air to foam solution was found out first to acquire fluoroprotein foam with best fire extinguishing efficiency; then varied amounts of BTP were added to the foam at the optimal flow ratio for performance examination. Results demonstrated: at the optimized volume flow ratio of air to foam solution of 9 and the volume flow ratio of BTP to foam solution of 3.75%, a superior fire extinguishing performance was achieved with the fire extinguishing time reduced by 43% in comparison to that without any BTP added. The fire suppression mechanism of the foam with BTP additive was discussed based on established fire suppression theories and experimental results. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.