The Upper Austrian Fire Protection Office recently performed a decisive fire test in cooperation with Rosenbauer.
The test involved igniting cotton reels stacked on pallets to a height of seven meters (23 ft). The aim of the fire test was to demonstrate the effective extinguishing capability of CAF (Compressed Air Foam) systems. The test was prompted by several large-scale fires at a spinning mill in Linz, additional fire protection equipment is under investigation, due to the damage caused.
POLY CAFS Trolley SL35/50
The use of two POLY CAFS SL35/50 Trolleys proved to be highly efficient and effective in this fire test. These mobile fire extinguishers have a tank capacity of 35 or 50 l (9 or 13 gal), a throw range of approx. 16 meters (53 ft) and a throw height of approx. 10 meters (33 ft). The operating pressure is 7 bar, the cylinder pressure 200 bar. The extinguishing agent is a premix (water-foam agent mix) with AFFF 1%. The mix is forced by compressed air into a mixing chamber where it is actively expanded. The mixing chamber specially developed for the POLY Trolley helps to create an extremely homogeneous and thus durable CAF with an expansion ratio (ratio between foam volume and liquid volume) of 8:1. This guarantees excellent cooling and suffocating properties. On top of this, it extends the available supply of extinguishing agent by a factor of 8 (one part of water-foam agent mix becomes eight parts of CAF).
The fire test
The test was prompted by several large-scale fires at a spinning mill in Linz |
After a pre-combustion period of approximately 5-1/2 minutes, the extinguishing trial with the POLY CAFS SL35 and SL50 Trolleys began. Thanks to the excellent adhesion capabilities of CAF, which is similar to razor-foam, the incipient fire was completely extinguished within the shortest possible time.
Another test, using water as the extinguishing agent, clearly demonstrated the advantages of using the CAFS. The water actually "washed off" the CAF that covered the burning material. The incredible result of this test was that the fire immediately broke out again and flared up.
POLY CAF Systems are perfect for fighting incipient fires due to their efficiency and mobility. While pump-operated fire-fighting systems are starting their engines, priming their pumps and ramping up to full delivery, POLY CAFS are already hard at work because the extinguishing agent is forced into the hose line by compressed air. This takes just seven seconds! On top of this, the systems are independent of any energy sources; this substantially reduces the deployment overhead and guarantees best-of-class reliability.
Convincing arguments for the use of CAF fire fighting technology:
- CAF suffocates the flames
- Great throw height
- Extinguishing from a safe distance thanks to excellent throw range
- Excellent flash-back safety due to good adhesive properties of the foam
This fire test was another impressive demonstration of the CAF system's incredible firefighting performance.
