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ScienceDirect
Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000
Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000
Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000
Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000
Procedia Engineering
Procedia Engineering00 (2017)
211 000–000
(2018) 142–148
Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000

2017 8th International Conference on Fire Science and Fire Protection Engineering
Experimental
Experimental Study
Study on
on Fire
Fire
(on the Development Extinguishing
Extinguishing Properties
Fire Code) of
Properties
of Performance-based of Compound
Compound
Experimental
Experimental Study
Study on
on Fire
Fire
SuperfineExtinguishing
Extinguishing
Powder Properties
Properties of
of Compound
Compound
Experimental
Experimental Study
Study on on Fire
Superfine
Fire Extinguishing
Powder
Extinguishing Properties
Properties of
of Compound
Compound
Superfine
Superfine Powder
Powder
Superfine
Superfine
a,b,c
De-xu DUa,b,c , Xu-hai PANPowder
Powder
a,b,c a,b,c,
a,b,c, Min HUAa,b,c,*
De-xu DUa,b,c , Xu-hai PAN a,b,c, Min HUAa,b,c,*
De-xu
De-xu DU
DUa,b,c , Xu-hai PANa,b,c, Min HUAa,b,c,*
a,b,c, Xu-hai PANa,b,c, Min HUAa,b,c,*
De-xu
De-xu DU
DUa,b,c,, Xu-hai
Xu-hai PAN
PANa,b,c,, Min
Min HUA
HUAa,b,c,*
College of Safety Scienceand Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China
a
ab
*
College of Safety Scienceand Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China
a Institute of Fire Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China
aCollege
b
Institute ofofSafety
Fire Scienceand
Science Engineering, Nanjing
and Engineering, Nanjing Tech
Tech University,
University, Nanjing
Nanjing 210009,
210009, China
China
abCollege of Safety
Jiangsu Key Scienceand
LaboratoryEngineering,
of Urban andNanjing Tech
Industrial University,
Safety, Nanjing
Nanjing 210009,
210009, China China
c
abCollege
c of
Institute ofSafety
JiangsuFire
Key Scienceand
Science
LaboratoryEngineering,
and Engineering,
of Urban andNanjing
Nanjing Tech
Tech
Industrial University,
University,
Safety, Nanjing
Nanjing
Nanjing 210009,
210009,
210009, China China
China
bCollege
c of
Institute ofSafety Scienceand
Fire Science Engineering, Nanjing
and Engineering, Nanjing Tech
Tech University,
University, Nanjing
Nanjing 210009,
210009, China
China
bInstitute of Fire Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China
cJiangsu Key Laboratory of Urban and Industrial Safety, Nanjing 210009, China
Institute of Fire
cJiangsu KeyScience and Engineering,
Laboratory of Urban andNanjing TechSafety,
Industrial University, Nanjing
Nanjing 210009,
210009, ChinaChina
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Urban and Industrial Safety, Nanjing 210009, China
Abstract
c
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Urban and Industrial Safety, Nanjing 210009, China
Abstract
Abstract
Abstract
In this paper, the existing fire extinguishing powder was improved with magnesium hydroxide as additive to prepare the compound
Abstract
In this paper,
Abstract
superfine the existing
powder. And thefirefireextinguishing
extinguishingpowder was improved
performance with magnesium
of the compound powderhydroxide
was testedas additive
by to prepare
the modified the compound
cup-burner, being
In this paper,
superfine the existing
powder. And thefire extinguishing
firedry
extinguishing powder was improved
performance with magnesium
of the compound powder hydroxide
testedas
wascompound additive
by to prepare
the modified the compound
cup-burner, being
In
In this
compared
this paper,
with
paper, the
the
the existing
existing fire
commercial
fire extinguishing
powder
extinguishing andpowder
the
powder was
superfine
was improved
powder.
improved with
The
with magnesium
advantages
magnesium ofhydroxide
the
hydroxide as
as additive
superfine
additive to
to prepare
powder
prepare the
were
the compound
explained
compound
superfine
compared powder.
withthethe And the
commercial fire extinguishing
dry powder and performance
the superfine of the
powder. compound
The powder
advantages was tested
ofhydroxide
the compound by the modified
superfine cup-burner, being
In thisthepaper,
superfine
from powder.
aspects ofexisting
And the
minimum fire
fireextinguishing
extinguishing
extinguishing powder was temperature
performance
concentration, improved
of the with
compound
and magnesium
powder
extinguishing was tested
time. The asexperimental
additive
by the to powder
prepare
modified were explained
the compound
cup-burner,
results showed being
that the
superfine
compared
from the powder.
with the
aspects of And the fire
commercial
minimum extinguishing
dry powder and
extinguishing performance
the superfine
concentration, of the compound
powder.
temperature The
and powder
advantages was
of the
extinguishing tested
compound
time. The by superfine
the modified
experimental powdercup-burner,
results being
were explained
showed that the
superfine
compared
minimum powder.
with the And concentration
extinguishing the firedry
commercial extinguishing
powder
of and performance
the
compound superfine
superfine ofpowder
the compound
powder. The
was powder
advantages
much of
lower wascompound
the
than tested
the other bytwo,
theand
modified
superfine thepowdercup-burner,
were
temperature being
explained
drop rate
compared
from
minimum with the
the aspects of commercial
extinguishingminimum dry powder
extinguishing
concentration and the superfine
concentration,
of compound superfine powder.
temperature
powder The
andadvantages
was ofthan
extinguishing
much lower the compound
time.
theThe
other superfine
experimental
two, thepowder
andthan results were explained
showed
temperature thatrate
drop the
compared
from
was the
greaterwith
aspects
in the
theof commercial
minimum
process of dry powder
extinguishing
suppressing and
flame. the superfine
concentration,
Although thepowder.
temperature
compound The
and advantages
superfine of the
extinguishing
powder compound
time.
was The superfine
experimental
slightly lower powder
results
the were explained
showed
superfine that
powderthe
from
minimum
was the aspects
greater in theofprocess
extinguishingminimumof extinguishing
concentration
suppressing concentration,
of compound
flame. Although temperature
superfine
the powder
compound and
was extinguishing
much
superfine lower time.
than
powder theThe
was otherexperimental
slightlytwo, theresults
andthan
lower showeddrop
temperature
the superfine that the
rate
powder
from
minimum
in the the aspects
average of
extinguishingminimum
extinguishing extinguishing
concentration
time, the of concentration,
compound
standard deviation temperature
superfine powder
results showed and
was extinguishing
much
that the lower time.
than
composite theThe
other
powder experimental
two,
had and
better theresults showed
temperature
stability. In that
drop
addition, the
rate
minimum
was
in greater
the extinguishing
in the
average concentration
process of time,
extinguishing suppressing
the of compound
standard superfine
flame. deviation
Althoughresultspowder
the compound
showedwas much
superfine
that the lower than
powder was
composite the other
slightly
powder two,
had and
lower
better the
than temperature
the superfine
stability. In drop rate
powder
addition, the
minimum
was greater
experimentalextinguishing
in the
results concentration
process
showedof suppressing
that the of compound
flame.
fray-out of superfine
Although
flame wasthe powder
compound
very fast was much
superfine
and the lower
time than
powder
only the slightly
was otherfor
accounted two, andthan
lower
17.5% the
in temperature
the
the superfine
fire drop rate
powder
extinguishing
was
in thegreater in the
average
experimental process
extinguishing of time,
suppressing flame.ofdeviation
thefray-out
standard Although thevery
compound
results showed superfine
fast andthat
thethe powder
composite was slightly
powder hadlower
betterthan the fire
stability.superfine powder
Inextinguishing
addition, the
was
in greater inresults
the the showed
process that the
of time,
suppressing flame was
flame. Although the compound time
superfine only accounted
powder was for
slightly 17.5%
lower in the
than the superfine powder
the average
process.
in
experimental
process.
extinguishing
averageresults
extinguishing
showed time,
the standard
standardofdeviation
thefray-out
that the deviation
flame was
results
results showed
veryshowed
that
fast andthat
the
thethe
composite
composite
time
powder
powder for
only accounted
had better
better stability.
had 17.5% stability. In addition,
addition, the
in the fireInextinguishingthe
in the average extinguishing
experimental time,thethe standardofdeviation results showed that the composite powder had 17.5%better stability. In addition, the
experimental results
process. results showed
showed that
that the fray-out
fray-out of flame
flame was
was very
very fast
fast and
and the
the time
time only
only accounted
accounted forfor 17.5% in in the
the fire
fire extinguishing
extinguishing
experimental
2017 The results
process.
© Authors. showed that the
Published byfray-out
ElsevierofLtd.
flame was veryand
Selection fastpeer-review
and the timeunder
only responsibility
accounted for 17.5%of the in the fire extinguishing
Academic Committee
process.
© 2017
process.
of
© ICFSFPE
2018 TheAuthors.
The Authors. PublishedbybyElsevier
2017. Published ElsevierLtd.
Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Academic Committee
©
of 2017 The Authors.
ICFSFPE Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Academic Committee
2017.responsibility
© 2017 The
Peer-review
© Authors.
Theunder Published of by Elsevier
bythe Ltd.
Ltd. Selection
organizing committeeand peer-review
of ICFSFPE under
under responsibility
2017. responsibility of of the
the Academic
Academic Committee
of 2017
© ICFSFPE
2017 The
Authors.
2017. Published
Authors. Published by
Elsevier
Elsevier
Selection
Ltd. Selection
and peer-review
and peer-review under responsibility of the
Committee
Academic Committee
of ICFSFPE 2017.
Keywords:compound,
of ICFSFPE 2017. fire extinguishing powder, magnesium hydroxide, minimum extinguishing concentration, temperature, fire-extinguishing time
of ICFSFPE 2017.fire extinguishing powder, magnesium hydroxide, minimum extinguishing concentration, temperature, fire-extinguishing time
Keywords:compound,
Keywords:compound, fire extinguishing powder, magnesium hydroxide, minimum extinguishing concentration, temperature, fire-extinguishing time
Keywords:compound, fire extinguishing powder, magnesium hydroxide, minimum extinguishing concentration, temperature, fire-extinguishing time
Keywords:compound, fire extinguishing powder, magnesium hydroxide, minimum extinguishing concentration, temperature, fire-extinguishing time
Keywords:compound,
Nomenclature fire extinguishing powder, magnesium hydroxide, minimum extinguishing concentration, temperature, fire-extinguishing time
Nomenclature
Nomenclature
C concentration of fire extinguishing powder(g/m³)
Nomenclature
Nomenclature
C concentration of fire extinguishing powder(g/m³)
m mass
Nomenclature
C flow of fire
concentration extinguishing
of fire powder
extinguishing (g/s)
powder(g/m³)
m
C
V
C mass
the flow
concentration
flow of
rate
concentration fire
of
of extinguishing
fire powder
extinguishing
air(m³/h)
of fire extinguishing (g/s)
powder(g/m³)
powder(g/m³)
m
C
V mass flow
concentration
the flow of
rate fire extinguishing
ofair(m³/h)
of fire powder
extinguishing (g/s)
powder(g/m³)
m
m mass
mass flow
flow of fire
of of extinguishing powder
fire extinguishing powder (g/s) (g/s)
V
m the
mass flow
flowrate
of fireair(m³/h)
extinguishing powder (g/s)
V the
the flow
V Introduction
1. flow rate
rate of
of air(m³/h)
air(m³/h)
V the flow rate of air(m³/h)
1. Introduction
1. Introduction
1.
1. Introduction
Introduction
With the exit of Halon, fire extinguishing powder has obvious advantage in Halon substitutes with its low toxicity,
1. Introduction
With the exit of Halon, cheap fire extinguishing powder has obvious advantage in Halon substitutes with its low toxicity,
environmental
With the exitprotection, and outstanding
of Halon, fire extinguishing powder firehasextinguishing
obvious advantageefficiency [1-3]. substitutes
in Halon As the large-scale
with its low use toxicity,
of fire
environmental
With
With the
the
extinguishing exit
exitprotection,
of
of
powders,Halon,
Halon, cheap
demandsfire
fire and outstanding
extinguishing
extinguishing
of improving powder
powder
the firehas
hasextinguishing
efficiencyobvious
obvious
of the efficiency
advantage
advantage
fire in
in [1-3].
Halon
Halon
extinguishing As the
substitutes
substitutes
powders large-scale
is with
with its
its
becoming low
lowuse of fire
toxicity,
toxicity,
higher
environmental
With the exit protection,
of Halon, cheap and outstanding
fire extinguishing powder firehasextinguishing
obvious efficiency
advantage [1-3]. substitutes
in Halon As the large-scale
with its low of and
use toxicity,
fire
extinguishing
environmental
environmental
higher, powders, demands
protection,
protection,
and relevant scholars cheap
cheap of
haveofand
andimproving
done outstanding
outstanding the
a lot ofthe efficiency
fire of
fire extinguishing
research to make the
extinguishing fire extinguishing
efficiency
efficiency
it. fire
Researchers [1-3].
[1-3]. powders
As the is
As the is
foundpowders
that becoming
large-scale
large-scale
commercial higher
use
use of and
fire
of and
fire
extinguishing
environmental powders, demands
protection, cheap andimproving
outstanding efficiency
fire of the
extinguishing extinguishing
efficiency [1-3]. As the becoming dry
large-scale use
powder
higher
of fire
higher, and
extinguishing
extinguishing
being further relevant
powders,
powders,
refined scholars
demands
demands
into have ofdone
ofdone
ultra-fine a lot
improving
improving
powder of research
the
the
(particle to
efficiency
efficiency make
of
of the
sizeto≤20µm) it.
the Researchers
fire
fire
could found
extinguishing
extinguishing
have better that the
powders
powders
fluidity commercial
is
is
and becoming
becoming dry
dispersion dry powder
higher
higher and
and
[4],powder
which
higher, and
extinguishing relevant
powders,scholars
demands have of a lot
improving of research
the efficiency make
of it.
the Researchers
fire found
extinguishing that the
powders commercial
is becoming higher and
being
higher,
higher,further
resulted and
and refined
thatrelevant
relevant
the into ultra-fine
scholars
scholars
refined have
have wouldpowder
done
done aahave
lot (particle
of
lot (particle
ofgreater size
research
research to≤20µm)
make
to≤20µm)
make could
it. have
Researchers
it.could
Researchers better
found
found fluidity
that and
that the
the dispersion
commercial
commercial [4],
dry
dry which
powder
powder
being
higher,further
and refined intoparticles
ultra-fine powder specific
size surface area,have
andbetter
the interaction
fluidity with
and the flame
dispersion could
[4], be
which
resulted
being
being
greatly thatrelevant
further
further the
improved,refined
refined
and
scholars
refined
into
into
as a
have would
particles
ultra-fine
ultra-fine
result the
done ahave
powder
powder
powders
lot (particle
ofgreater
research
(particle
could playsize
a
to≤20µm)
specific
size make
≤20µm)
better role
it.could
surface Researchers
could
in area,
fire have
found
andbetter
have the
better
extinguishing
that the
interaction
fluidity
fluidity
commercial
with
and
and
progress. the flame
dispersion
dispersion
However, if
dry
[4],
[4],
the
powder
could be
which
which
powder
resulted
being that
further the refined
refined into particles would
ultra-fine have
powder greater
(particle specific
size surface
≤20µm) couldarea, and
have the interaction
better fluidity with
and the flame
dispersion could
[4], be
which
greatly
resulted
resultedimproved,
that the and as
refined
thatrefined,
the refined a result
particles the powders
would havecould play
greater a better
specific role
surfacein fire extinguishing
area, and the progress.
interaction However,
with the if
flame the powder
could be
was further
greatly
resultedimproved,
thatrefined, as aparticles
andalthough
the refined result would
thethe
fire havecould
powders greater
extinguishing play specific
a better surface
performance could
role area, and the interaction
beextinguishing
in fire improved a certainwith
to progress. the flame
extent,
However, thecould
theif problem be
powderof
was further
greatly
greatly improved,
improved, and
and as
as aaparticles
although result
result
would
thethe
fire
the
havecould
powders
powders
greater
extinguishing
could play
play
specific
performance
aa better
better
surface
could
role
role in
in
area,
fire
fire
and the interaction
beextinguishing
improved
extinguishing a certainwith
to progress.
progress.
the flame
extent,
However,
However, theif
if the
the
could
problem be
powder
powderof
was further
greatly refined,
improved, andalthough
as a result thethe
fire extinguishing
powders could play performance
a better rolecould beextinguishing
in fire improved to progress.
a certain However,
extent, theif problem
the powder of
was further refined, although the fire extinguishing performance could be improved to a
was further refined, although the fire extinguishing performance could be improved to a certain extent, the problem ofcertain extent, the problem of
was further refined, although the fire extinguishing performance could be improved to a certain extent, the problem of

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-25-8323-9951; fax: +86-25-8323-9949

* Corresponding
E-mail author. Tel.: +86-25-8323-9951; fax: +86-25-8323-9949
address: huamin@njtech.edu.cn
* Corresponding
E-mail author. Tel.: +86-25-8323-9951; fax: +86-25-8323-9949
address: huamin@njtech.edu.cn
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-25-8323-9951; fax: +86-25-8323-9949
* Corresponding
E-mail author. Tel.: +86-25-8323-9951; fax: +86-25-8323-9949
address: huamin@njtech.edu.cn
* Corresponding
E-mail address:
1877-7058 author.
TheTel.: +86-25-8323-9951;
huamin@njtech.edu.cn
© 2018 Authors. Published fax: +86-25-8323-9949
by Elsevier Ltd.
E-mail address: huamin@njtech.edu.cn
E-mail address: huamin@njtech.edu.cn
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of ICFSFPE 2017
10.1016/j.proeng.2017.12.126
 De-xu DU et al. / Procedia Engineering 211 (2018) 142–148 143
De-xu DU et al./ Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000

agglomeration and preservation of powder was more prominent, which made the preparation process and cost increase
greatly. Therefore, the relevant scholars had done some further researches, and made breakthrough in other technical aspects.
Xiaomin et al wrapped the nanometer superfine sodium bicarbonate powder in the pore structure of zeolite through a new
type of fruit core structure, to solve the agglomeration problem of powder, so that the powders could penetrate the flame
effectively and achieve better fire extinguishing performance [5]. Kuang K et al. found that the fire extinguishing
performance of superfine powder was not only related to the size of the surface structure of the powder, but also to the main
components of the fire extinguishing agent, and the experiment showed that the ultrafine magnesium hydroxide powder had
higher extinguishing efficacy than the commercial dry powder of ammonium bicarbonate [6]. Koshiba et al through the
experimental study of combustion inhibition found that the metallocene powder had a higher firefighting advantages, the
minimum extinguishing concentration of ferrocene was 11 times smaller than that of ammonium dihydrogen phosphate,
which indicated that the metallocene, represented by ferrocene, was a more efficient agent than that of ammonium
dihydrogen phosphate [7].The effects of manganese-containing compounds and zinc-containing compounds on the
combustion rate of methane-air flame were studied experimentally by Linteris G T et al, and compared with Fe(CO)5 and
CF3Br, it was found that the inhibition effect of the compounds containing manganese or zinc was more obvious, and the
inhibition efficiency of zinc compounds was twice times of CF3Br [8].
Now the extinguishing efficiency promotion of fire extinguishing powder is mainly aimed at the improvement of the
single material, and the research on the compound fire extinguishing powder is less. B. G. Mchale combined dry powder
and gas fire extinguishing agent, using halogenated alkanes as the driving gas, to drive the powder from the fire extinguisher,
and the effectiveness of extinguishing had a large increase [9]. Skaggs et al combined use of sodium bicarbonate and
heptafluoropropane, and found that the fire extinguishing time was shorter than that of the separate use [10]. However, the
choice of the driving gas and the powder was limited, the nature of the driving gas required by different powders must be
adapted to it, which restricted the popularization of this method.
In this paper, the compound superfine powder with magnesium hydroxide was adopted, to look forward to developing a
new high-performance compound fire extinguishing powder, and the effectiveness of the powder was studied by the small-
scale device-cup burner.

2. Experiment

2.1. Chemicals and materials

Magnesium hydroxide was purchased from Shanghai No.4 Reagent & H.V. Chemical Limited Company, which was
chemical pure (> 98%), commercial dry powders produced by Nanjing Fire Extinction Agents Ltd. The magnesium
hydroxide and the commercial dry powder were refined by horizontal planetary ball mill respectively, then mixed into the
compound superfine powder by 15:85 proportion. And the experiment was conducted to compare it with the commercial dry
powder and the superfine powder.

2.2. Fire extinguishing experiment

As a coaxial flow flame device, the flame property of the cup burner is very similar to the flame burning condition under
the same natural condition, and the oxidant in the device can keep the flame burning stably [11]. The addition of the fire
extinguishing powder is achieved by the air of the oxidizer which can drive the powders to the burning area, and under the
entrainment the powders get into flame, in the end, achieving the role of extinguishing. The device structure of the cup
burner used in this experiment is shown in Fig. 1.
144 De-xu DU et al. / Procedia Engineering 211 (2018) 142–148
De-xu DU et al./ Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of the cup-burner apparatus

The fuel used in this experiment was liquid fuel-diesel, and by adjusting the height of the fuel tank, the liquid level of the
fuel in the combustion cup was maintained at a constant height (from the cup mouth 2-3mm);The oxidizer was supplied by a
compressed air bottle with a volume flow of 1.5m³/h; The storage vessel of the fire extinguishing powders was a fluidized
bed, and the special structure of the fluidized bed made the change of the powder amount to be linear at any time,
guaranteeing the uniformity of the powder quantity into cup burner, and the driving gas of the fluidized bed was compressed
air. In the experiment, the air flow of the cup burner and the fluidized bed was adjusted by the rotor flowmeter respectively.
Before the test began, the sample powders that need to be tested was filled in the fluidized bed, then the fuel was ignited and
took a pre-burning for 60s. When the flame was stabilized, the driving gas was opened for fire-extinguishing experiments.
The gas-driven system was closed immediately after the flame being extinguished. In the course of the test, the full use of
high-speed camera, record the flame quenching time. And Equation (1) can be used to calculate the extinguishing
concentration of fire extinguishing powder, the expression is:

𝐶𝐶 = 3600𝑚𝑚/(1.5 + 𝑉𝑉) (1)

Where, C is the concentration of fire extinguishing powder, the unit is g/m³; m is the mass flow of fire extinguishing
powder, the unit is g; V is the flow rate of air, the unit is m³/h.

3. Results and discussions

In the experiment, the flow rate of the fluidized bed was adjusted to obtain different fire-extinguishing concentration
determined by different driving flow rate, and approaching the minimum extinguishing concentration gradually. Finally, the
minimum fire extinguishing concentration of each sample powder was calculated by Equation (1), as shown in the following
table:

Table 1. Minimum extinguishing concentration of sample powders

Simples V Flame m C
1.6m³/h Not extinguished  
Commercial dry powders 1.7m³/h Extinguished 0.092g/s 103g/m³
1.8m³/h Extinguished  
1.3m³/h Not extinguished  
Superfine powders 1.4m³/h Extinguished 0.074g/s 92g/m³
1.5m³/h Extinguished  
1.2m³/h Not extinguished  
Compound superfine powders 1.3m³/h Extinguished 0.063g/s 81g/m³
1.4m³/h Extinguished  
 De-xuDe-xu
DU et DU
al./ Procedia Engineering
et al. / Procedia 00 (2017)211
Engineering 000–000
(2018) 142–148 145

Fig. 2 is the temperature change under the condition of minimum fire extinguishing concentration of three samples,1, 2, 3
and 4th thermocouple respectively determined the temperature of the flame centre, the flame Wei, the critical zone between
Wei and flue gas and the heat flue gas above the flame. It could be seen from the diagram that the flame temperature would
increase briefly after the pre-combustion with powders reaching the cup burner, and then the temperature decreased until the
flame was completely extinguished. This was because the powder driving gas for the air, in the short time to start, there was
less amount of powders reach the combustion area, the increase in the amount of oxidizer in the burner caused an intense
combustion for a moment, the flame suppression was showed up when the powder was transported stably.

(a) (b)

(c)

Fig. 2 Temperatures measured by the four thermocouples for the (a) commercial dry powder, (b) superfine powder, and (c) compound superfine powder

Fig. 3 is the detailed temperature change of three sample powders during the fire extinguishing process: from dry powder
getting into the burning area to the flame being completely extinguished. As can be seen from the diagram, the temperature
of thermocouple 1 and 2 of superfine powder and compound superfine powder had a more obvious reduction trend than that
of commercial dry powder and the time of fire extinguishing was shortened by 4s, this was because that the superfine
powder had small particle size, and large specific surface area, particles could participate in the fire extinguishing reaction
efficiently, as result powders could absorb and destroy more free radicals, inhibiting flame burning; From the temperature
change of thermocouple 3 and 4 of superfine powder and commercial dry powder, we can see that the trend were basically
similar, but the temperature reduction rate of compound superfine powder was much greater than that of both. In addition,
although the fire extinguishing time of compound superfine powder was similar to that of superfine powder, its minimum
extinguishing concentration was lower, therefore, the compound superfine powder with adding magnesium hydroxide had
higher fire extinguishing efficiency.
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146 De-xu DU et al. / Procedia Engineering 211 (2018) 142–148

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 3 Temperature changes measure by thermocouples (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3, and (d) 4

In the experiment, three sets of contrast tests were carried out for each sample powder under the condition of minimum
extinguishing concentration, and the results of fire-extinguishing time were as follows:

Fig. 4 Standard deviation of fire extinguishing time of sample powders

Fig. 4 is the standard deviation chart of fire extinguishing time of three sample powders, it can be seen from the figure
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De-xu DU et al./ Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000

that the average extinguishing time of the commercial dry powder was 14.33s, the ones of superfine powder and compound
superfine powder was 11s and 10.33s respectively. The average fire extinguishing time of powders after super thinning had
been greatly reduced, which showed that the ultra-fine process had great advantage in improving the fire-extinguishing
performance of powders. And the ability of compound superfine powder with magnesium hydroxide as additive had been
further improved in the time of fire extinguishing. Although the average fire extinguishing time of compound superfine
powder was not much shorter than that of superfine powder, its standard deviation was much smaller, which indicated that
the stability of compound powder was better.
In the experiment, the high-speed camera took the whole course of the fire extinguishing process, recorded the
interaction of the powders and the flame, and the change of the flame form, the structure of the flame in different time nodes
was as follows:

0s 4s 8s 8.2s

8.6s 9.1s 9.4s 9.7s

Fig. 5 Changes of flame shape

During the experiment, the fire extinguishing time was defined: the powder entering the flame burning area as the
starting point, and the flame being completely extinguished as the end point. From the picture comparison of each time node
in Fig. 5, it can be seen that it need about 4s to form a stable concentration environment from the starring point. In this time
period, the flame would have a bright fluctuation, that was because the air as a driving gas caused the increase of oxidants
when getting into the burning area. In the time of 4-8s, the powders interacted with flame, and had a decomposition reaction,
resulting in a large number of pyrolysis products, which involved in the combustion chain reaction to suppress flame. So,
after 8s, the flame began to become smaller and weaker, the flame height decreased by about 40%, the flame's root was no
longer complete as before, and the flame structure began to disintegrate. At 8.2s, the flame height was further reduced, and
the flame root was divided into three parts, forming three small fire sources, this was because the dry powder had entered
the root of the flame, blocking the burning reaction. At 8.6s, there were two small flames in the source of a fire, although the
flame was a little high, the root of flame was very small and unstable. At 9.1s the height of the flame was also decreased,
and the flame was very small, by 9.4s there was only a tiny flame, and it was completely extinguished at 9.7s. Seen in the
whole process of the fire-extinguishing, it can be seen that there was only 1.7s from the beginning of the collapse of the
flame structure to being completely extinguished, which only accounted for 17.5% of the process. It is indicated that when
the powders involved in the combustion chain reaction after thermal decomposition, the free radicals were destroyed
quickly, and this also explained the chemical inhibition had a high efficiency in extinguishing the flame combustion.
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De-xu DU et al./ Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000

4. Conclusions

In this paper, the fire extinguishing performance of three kinds of sample powders was tested by the cup burner, and the
advantages of the compound superfine powder were analysed by the minimum extinguishing concentration, combustion
temperature and fire extinguishing time. Besides, the shape change of flame in the fire extinguishing process was also
analysed main conclusions are as follows:
(1). The minimum extinguishing concentration of superfine powder with refining and adding of magnesium hydroxide is
much lower than that of commercial dry powder, and the order of minimum extinguishing concentration is as follows:
commercial dry powder> superfine powder > compound superfine powder; The flame suppression effect of compound
powder is best under the condition of minimum extinguishing concentration, and the temperature drop rate of which is
much greater than that of commercial dry powder. The average extinguishing time of compound superfine powder is
slightly shorter than that of superfine powder, but both of which are far shorter than that of commercial dry powder.
And the standard deviation of compound superfine powder is smaller than that of superfine powder, therefore, the
compound superfine powder has a better stability.
(2). During the suppression of flame, the period of chemical action with free radicals destroying is very short, which only
accounts for 17.5% of the whole fire extinguishing process, but the effect of flame fading is more obvious, which
shows the high efficiency of chemical action of fire extinguishing powder.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by A Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher
Education Institutions, National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 51476075, and the Graduate
Education Innovation Project of Jiangsu Province under Grant No. KYLX16_0620.

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