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The Performance of Aged Aqueous Foams for Mitigation of Thermal Radiation
Author(s) -
Magrabi S. A.,
Dlugogorski B. Z.,
Jameson G. J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
developments in chemical engineering and mineral processing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1932-2143
pISSN - 0969-1855
DOI - 10.1002/apj.5500080107
Subject(s) - cone calorimeter , materials science , composite material , radiator (engine cooling) , aqueous solution , thermal radiation , radiation , thermal , thermal stability , calorimeter (particle physics) , waste management , chemical engineering , chemistry , mechanical engineering , meteorology , char , optics , thermodynamics , pyrolysis , engineering , physics , detector
This paper investigates the effect of aging on the performance of aqueous foams as absorbers of thermal radiation. It employs a previously developed engineering method to evaluate the performance of fire‐fighting foams exposed to high fluxes of thermal radiation (5‐40 kW/m 2 ). A radiator cone from the ISO 5660 cone calorimeter is utilised to generate a uniform heat flux of thermal radiation on a 50mm thick aqueous foam layer. A comparison of the effect of thermal radiation on freshly‐made and aged foam in terms of the drainage, evaporation and foam‐decay characteristics is carried out. Class B fire‐fighting foams in the expansion range 5‐30 are studied. The experimental data for the aged foam reflect real‐life situations. A performance‐cost index developed previously by the authors, is applied to quantify the overall stability of aged fire‐fighting foams exposed to fluxes of thermal radiation. The index demonstrates the superior performance of fresh foams in comparison to aged foams and shows that the low expansion foam (E=5) displays the worst performance to price ratio.