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Asia-Oceania Symposium on Fire Science and Technology

AOSFST 2018: The Proceedings of 11th Asia-Oceania Symposium on Fire Science and Technology pp 649–665Cite as

Experimental Study on Effectiveness of Water Mist Containing Potassium Salts in Extinguishing Liquid Pool Fire

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Abstract

The suppression efficiency of water mist with potassium salts additives on liquid pool fire is experimentally studied in an enclosed space. The penetration pool fire ratio (PPFR) has been utilized to investigate the penetration capability of water mist directly above a pool fire source. The PPFR is generated experimentally by measuring the water mass within the corresponding extinguishing time in the absence of a fire, and a critical PPFR range 40–45% is present, which means more than 45% droplets of water mist arrive at the fuel surface is the essential conditions for additives exerting a chemical effect. The suppression efficiency could be generally sorted in an order of KNO3 ≈ K2C2O4 > K3PO4 ≈ pure water. The chemical mechanism of potassium additives is due to the active substances KOH and KxOy formed at high temperature, and the enhancement effect of CO generated by K2C2O4 thermal decomposition under the volume of enclosed space is far greater than fire source can be ignored. All of the results indicate that the addition of potassium salts can improve the extinguishing efficiency of water mist on liquid fire, and the suppression mechanism is considered due to the combination of physical and chemical action.

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Abbreviations

U :

Velocity (m/s)

Q c :

Heat release rate (kJ/s)

L :

Distance from nozzle to oil pan (m)

D v :

Droplet diameter (m)

P :

Pressure (Pa)

ρ:

Density (kg/m3)

Δ:

Variable

f :

Fuel

g :

Air

w :

Water

0:

Initial state

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Chinese People’s Armed Police Forces Academy, No. 220 Xi’chang Road, Langfang, 065000, China

    Hao Liu, Tianwei Zhang, Dengyou Xia & Qiang Liang

Authors
  1. Hao Liu
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  2. Tianwei Zhang
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  3. Dengyou Xia
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  4. Qiang Liang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tianwei Zhang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fire Science, Central Police University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan

    Guan-Yuan Wu

  2. National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

    Kuang-Chung Tsai

  3. Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

    W. K. Chow

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Liu, H., Zhang, T., Xia, D., Liang, Q. (2020). Experimental Study on Effectiveness of Water Mist Containing Potassium Salts in Extinguishing Liquid Pool Fire. In: Wu, GY., Tsai, KC., Chow, W.K. (eds) The Proceedings of 11th Asia-Oceania Symposium on Fire Science and Technology. AOSFST 2018. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9139-3_47

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9139-3_47

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-32-9138-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-32-9139-3

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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