A NEW VAPOR-SECURING AGENT FOR FLAMMABLE-LIQUID FIRE EXTINGUISHMENT,

Abstract : A study and testing program have resulted in the development of new water-soluble surfactants of the perfluorocarbon type capable of forming vaporsecuring foams and films on the surface of lowflashpoint flammable fuels of the gasoline type. Equipment has been designed and developed for successful one-man application of these foams immediately following flame extinction with the free-radical quenching agent, potassium bicarbonate dry chemical, on a pound-for-pound basis. Problems of foam collapse, usually encountered where dry chemicals and vapor-securing foam agents are used together, are nonexsistent with the new perfluorocarbon foam surfactant. (Author)