FireFive® is an additive that mixed with water in very low percentages, increases the extinguishing performances on class A, B (polar and non-polar), D, F fires and is particularly effective on three-dimensional fires, even in the most extreme weather conditions.
The product has several properties that make it able to combine the advantages of wetting agents (as defined by NFPA18 standard) with the advantages of a fine chemical interaction on the dynamics of combustion and fire propagation.
The numerous laboratory tests and experiments on real fire, carried out by Tema Sistemi S.p.A. in collaboration with the National Fire Brigade, have proven its effectiveness which is UL certified.
It complies with the European REACH Regulation for the classification of chemical agents and it is eco-friendly, non-toxic, non-corrosive and biodegradable.
Firefive® can be used with any system and equipment: fire extinguishers, mobile equipments, hydrants, monitors, lances, cooling systems, deluge systems, sprinklers, medium and low pressure water mist systems.
Why is Firefive® so effective?
- Drastically reduces surface tension of the water;
- Quickly removes heat from fire thanks to its extraordinary cooling power;
- Incapsulates and neutralizes fuel molecules;
- Stops the chain reaction of free radicals.
Firefive® and Polymeric Materials
These properties make the product particularly suitable for fire extinguishing of polymeric materials.
Solid polymers, in case of fire, can be partially or totally transformed into liquid materials due to the melting generated by high temperatures.
In this case Firefive® is able to act simultaneously on both states of the material: it quickly wets and cools the solid part, and inhibits the combustion of the liquid part by encapsulating the molecules of the polymers.
The effectiveness of the product has been proven by tests carried out on semi-finished polymer products in the solid state in a petrochemical plant located in Ravenna (Italy).
The tests were conducted in a comparative manner with both the use of the Firefive® and foaming agent.
The results have shown that the wetting agent is able to suffocate the fire in a significantly shorter time than the one taken by the foam.
Unlike wetting agent, using foaming agent implies the complete coverage of the polymeric combustible material and the exceeding of the storage level of the material, thus requiring a longer shutdown time.
Case Study: Firefive® used to protect Conveyor Belts from fire
One of the application examples of the product is represented by the water mist system realized by Tema Sistemi S.p.A, for the protection of the conveyor belts of a steelwork located in Taranto (Italy).
The plant has been designed with a low pressure watermist system with the addition of FireFive®, designed according to UNI EN14972.
The choice of FireFive® was guided by the need to protect both the material transported by the belt, in this case carbon coke fuel, and the polymeric material of which the belt itself is made.
In addition, Firefive® has improved the performance of the water mist system thanks to its extraordinary properties:
- Mixed with water in small percentages, it determines an increase in the cooling speed on fire and therefore a rapid drop in temperatures with the consequent reduction of the shutdown times compared to the use of the sole water;
- Reduces the surface tension of water by about 2 times. This property gives rise to the fragmentation of the drops into smaller droplets, which tend to lose their spherical shape, spreading on the surface with a consequent increase in wettability. This behavior is equivalent to having a contact surface larger than the drop itself with an increase in the surface-to-volume ratio. The small size of the drops make the water penetrate faster and deeper into the porosity of the material subject to combustion, this reason makes them particularly effective on solid fuels. This property, in addition to increasing the cooling rate, is particularly appreciated in inhibiting the propagation of fires by wetting the parts adjacent to fires of solids and combustible liquids.
- Reducing the surface tension of the water also helps to improve the performance of the watermist system by helping to break down the drops of water into small diameter droplets, due to the reduction of molecular cohesion forces. In fact, in a watermist system, the smaller the drops are, the more effective the system is.
The effectiveness of the use of the FireFive® additive according to the NFPA18 standard has been certified by Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) with UL certificate no. 20160128-EX26849, while the effectiveness of the entire system has been proven by RINA certification.
For more information, go to www.temasistemi.eu
