A Simple Method to Assess the Thermal Mechanisms Associated with a Fire Suppressant

Published

April 1, 2010

Author(s)

Cary Presser, C Avedisian, J. Stiehl, Richard E. Cavicchi

Abstract

A new screening concept is presented to evaluate the thermal effectiveness of fire suppressants (liquids and gases) for solid surface cooling (without vaporization for liquid suppressants) under well-controlled conditions. The concept is based on measuring a fluid's ability to inhibit the temperature change of a material that is heated in a controlled way while immersed in the suppressant. An experimental design is based on the transient hot-wire technique, which allows for an accurate measurement of the evolution of material temperature under conditions such that internal temperature gradients in the material are minimized. A gold wire (100 mm long and 5 mm in diameter) is the test surface, representing a re-ignitable hot surface in fire scenarios. A simplified analysis of heat flow from the wire to the fluid, based on a lumped thermal system, is used to evaluate the transient response of the wire to pulse heating.

Citation

Fire Safety Journal

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1016/J.Firesaf.2010.02.002

Keywords

Absorption coefficient, climate change, laser-driven thermal reactor, particle optical properties, radiative loading

Citation

Presser, C. , Avedisian, C. , Stiehl, J. and Cavicchi, R. (2010), A Simple Method to Assess the Thermal Mechanisms Associated with a Fire Suppressant, Fire Safety Journal, [online], https://doi.org/10.1016/J.Firesaf.2010.02.002 (Accessed October 8, 2025)