Development of eco-friendly soap-based firefighting foam for forest fire

Abstract

Recently, large-scale forest fires have been occurring frequently worldwide. In forest fires, the use of the firefighting foam has greatly improved fire extinguishing effects, but the environmental impact from firefighting activities using foam still cause concerns. We have been developing a novel firefighting foam for forest fire with significantly lower environmental risk, consisting of soaps, chelating agent, and diluents. We determined the optimal composition of soap, and found the high biodegradable chelating agent with a high foaming performance.