Using egg albumin foam to extinguish fires

Abstract

Oil, coal and chemical fires are often difficult to put out using water. In certain hydrocarbon fires, protein foam can extinguish fires better than water by keeping air (oxygen) away from the flames and by "blowing" the flame away from its fuel source. Egg albumin is a relatively inexpensive protein and is representative of foaming proteins, which are candidates for use as fire suppression agents. This paper begins to deal with the effect of the foam bulk pH, foam protein concentration and generating airflow rate into the foam on the fire extinguishing time in laboratory experiments. A Bunsen burner was used to generate a small, controlled laboratory fire within a plastic container, which represented a point source in a partially open room in the experiments. The Bunsen burner represents a gaseous hydrocarbon fire, which can be difficult to extinguish. Both a low pH foam and one made with a high air flow rate favor a reduction in time required to put out the Bunsen burner flame.