Attachment:

Educational information for High Expansion Foam Fire Extinguishing System

Note:
This educational information provides only basic information about the High Expansion Foam Fire Extinguishing
System. For details, please study the Instruction manual for your vessel. If you have any queries or require
clarification for your vessel please contact your ship manager.

Question “How does the High Expansion Foam Fire Extinguishing System work? “

Answer:
The High Expansion Foam Fire Extinguishing System (HEFFES) extinguishes fire by suffocation and cooling, while
preventing the smoke from spreading. If operated correctly, this system is very effective in extinguishing fires
in large spaces such as the PCC Car decks and Machinery Spaces.
In contrast to conventional Fixed CO2 systems that require ventilation to be shutoff, the HEFFES needs a supply
of air in order to generate, expand, and spread the foam sufficiently to extinguish the fire.

Important !!
Mis‐operation or failure of the air ventilation system will prevent the formation, expansion, and spread of foam,
and thus the fire extinguishing capability of HEFFES will fail.

Foaming normally by proper air supply. No supply of air prevents generation of foam.

Basic working outline of HEFFES on PCC vessels

HEFFES uses Foam liquid concentrate (Surfactant), fresh water or sea water, and air as the main ingredients
of the extinguishing medium. The foam liquid concentrate used has an expansion ratio of 1:500 to 1000.

The system mixes fresh/sea water, foam concentrate liquid, and air using pumps, eductor, multiple large
foam generators, ventilation fans, and ducts, thereby generating and distributing safe high‐expansion foam
to the car hold fire zone. The foam floods the space and extinguishes the fire by smothering and starving it
of oxygen while the water part absorbs the heat to generate steam and cooling. The foam also prevents the
spread of smoke.

How does the system operate in PCC hold fires?

1. In the event of a fire, the fire detection & alarm system is activated and the ship’s crew proceed to confirm
the fire situation in the car deck – Fire Zone.

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2. Upon confirmation of fire, if the fire is not extinguishable by initial actions of firefighting, please make sure
that all the air dampers in the corresponding fire zone are open.
After that, press the System Standby button on the main or remote control panel for the respective fire zone.

This operation shuts all the running ventilation fans to the designated fire zone of the car deck, starts the
Standby diesel generator(generally 2 sets run in parallel), starts monitoring of water and foam pressure, and
sounds the alarm inside the holds to alert the crew to evacuate the car decks.

Open air damper Press System Standby Confirm starting 2nd D/G

3. After all crew have evacuated the fire zone and the starting of standby diesel generator is confirmed, the
Foam fire pump button is pressed on the Control Panel. This starts the Foam fire pump. After the water
pressure reaches a set pressure, the Foam liquid pump runs and opens the associated valves of water supply,
foam liquid suction, eductor suction, and water pilot.

Press Foam fire pump button

4. The operator then checks to confirm the indicator lights* on the control panel are lit to show ‘’foam liquid
pressure’’ as “Normal” and ‘’foam discharge available’’. After confirmation, he presses the foam discharge
button on the control panel. (*A lamp test should be done before this operation)

This opens the Foam discharge valves and distributes the mixed liquid to the foam dampers. The mixed
liquids also act on the air cylinder to switch the foam damper from the air supply side to the foam supply
side and starts their associated supply fans. The airflow generated by supply fans mixes the air with the liquid
mixture at the foam generators to generate foam and blows the foam into the car deck Fire Zone.

Confirm “Foam Discharge available ”lamp is flickering. Press foam discharge button

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 Supply air flow
The foam generators mix foam solution with air supply by the fans to generate a lot of foam.

The foam generators

5. Successful fire suppression is confirmed by a drop in temperature of

the outer decks and walls of the fire zone and a change in color of smoke
to white. Typically, a large Fire Zone of about 120,500 cubic meters space
will fill up within 10 or 15 minutes. It must be noted that the proper
working of vents, dampers, and fans is crucial for the effective operation
of this system.

Important!!
➢ If the fire is not successfully extinguished, you must discharge foam again.
➢ Two or more compartments(zone) shall not be released simultaneously to prevent a drop in pressure.

6. When it is confirmed that the fire has been extinguished, stop the system and stop the foam fire pump.
Excessive distribution of the foam can be noted by the overflow of foam from the top deck vents. If this
happens, the system should be stopped to avoid unnecessary discharge of foam liquid, and released again
if necessary.

7. Caution! ! If for any reason the automatic start‐up of valves, vents, fans, or pumps fail, they should be
operated manually. Please refer your vessel’s systems instruction manual for details.
End.
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