Pool Fire Suppression Using CO[sub.2] Hydrate

This paper presents experimental findings on heat and mass transfer, phase transitions, and chemical reactions during the interaction of CO[sub.2] hydrate in powder granules and tablets with burning liquid fuels and oil. The experiments involved CO[sub.2] hydrate tablets and spheres made of pressed granules. The fire containment and suppression times were established experimentally. Using the gas analysis data, we studied the effects of the mitigation of anthropogenic emissions from the combustion of liquids and their suppression by gas hydrates. We also compared the performance of water aerosol, foaming agent emulsion, snow, ice, and CO[sub.2] hydrate samples as laboratory-scale fire suppressants. The paper further describes the numerical modeling of the CO[sub.2] hydrate dissociation during liquid fuel combustion. The rapid carbon dioxide release is shown to prevent the oxidizer from the combustion zone. The suppression of a flame using powder with a granule size of 3 mm requires 20-times less carbon dioxide hydrate than in the case of pressed tablets. Effective conditions are identified for using CO[sub.2] hydrates to extinguish fires involving flammable liquids and most common fuels.