Field tests of fire extinguishing compositions delivered for extinguishing by fine spraying

• Published in: Вестник Университета гражданской защиты МЧС Беларуси
• Main Authors: Igor Yu. Ivanov, Oleg D. Navrotskiy, Aleksey O. Likhomanov, Yuriy V. Garaev
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Сivil Protection 2026-05-01
• Subjects: sprinkler; droplet size; extinguishing efficiency; extinguishing time; automatic fire extinguishing system; field tests
• Online Access: https://journals.ucp.by/index.php/jcp/article/view/900

Purpose. To develop an experimental methodology and study the effect of the operating pressure before a finely atomized water spray nozzle on the droplet size in the spray cone using the previously developed film-forming fire extinguishing agent V3. To conduct field tests to determine the extinguishing time of a model fire of a water-insoluble flammable liquid using the developed film-forming fire extinguishing agent and commercially available analogs. Methods. Droplet size in the flow was measured instrumentally using a Winner 319 industrial aerosol particle size analyzer, which operates using laser diffraction. Extinguishing times for fire extinguishing agents were determined experimentally, and the experimental data were processed using the uncertainty estimation and expression method. Findings. A method for measuring the droplet size of water-based fire extinguishing agents applied by spraying has been developed. Droplet sizes of the previously developed film-forming fire extinguishing agent V3 (with a component ratio optimized for extinguishing time) were measured when applied through a Briz9/K16 fine-mist sprinkler. It was found that to form a spray cone with droplet diameters smaller than 150 µm using the specified Briz9/K16 sprinkler, the V3 film-forming fire extinguishing agent must be supplied under an operating pressure of 0.6 to 1.0 MPa. Field tests were conducted on extinguishing a model Subclass B1 fire using four fire extinguishing agents: the V3 fire extinguishing composition, PO-6RTS (Russia), PO-6RTF (Russia), and the film-forming barrier 3 NS (Belarus). The use of the developed V3 fire extinguishing composition was found to reduce the extinguishing time of a model Subclass B1 fire by at least 38 % compared to similar products. Application field of research. The developed methodology for studying the physical parameters of dispersed droplets from a deflector sprinkler of finely atomized water can be applied in the development of domestic regulatory legal acts for studying the parameters of the spray torch of deflector sprinklers used in automatic fire extinguishing systems.