Numerical justification of the laboratory technique for testing of fire-extinguishing powders

A. A. Chernov ; A. G. Shmakov ; O. P. Korobeinichev ; T. A. Bolshova ; V. I. Tatarenko ; N. V. Petrova

Čelâbinskij fiziko-matematičeskij žurnal, Tome 9 (2024) no. 2, pp. 324-336.

Résumé

Improvement of firefighting means and methods for measuring their effectiveness are important tasks in the field of fire safety. The paper presents the results of experimental measurements of the minimum extinguishing concentration of powder mixtures that can be applied as effective explosion–suppressing barriers. Measurements of the minimum extinguishing concentration of the investigated powders were carried out using a laboratory method with their pulsed delivery to a microfire of class B using compressed air. In order to justify and assess possible errors of the mentioned laboratory method for measuring extinguishing efficiency, numerical 3D modeling of the interaction of a multiphase flow with a model combustion focus was performed. The analysis of the numerical modeling results has shown that, for the applied laboratory method, almost the entire portion of the investigated powder enters the combustion zone. Additionally, the numerical calculations indicate that under the specified experimental conditions, the particle size of the powder has no noticeable effect on their loss into the surrounding flame space. Thus, these results justified the use of the mentioned laboratory method for the comparative evaluation of fire–extinguishing powders with a wide range of dispersity. The application of this laboratory method for assessing the effectiveness of the fire–extinguishing powder allowed for the development of an optimal powder composition for explosion suppression, incorporating inert mineral particles as the main component and an additive of a chemically active potassium-containing combustion inhibitor.

Détail

Keywords: fire safety, powder extinguishing agents, minimum extinguishing concentration, potassium ferrocyanide, fire fighting.

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