Water Mist Firefighting System From Advanced Firefighting Technology (AFT) Germany Introduction:

The best media to fight fires is water because of its vast availability, low cost and environmentally friendly. Water has very high latent heat of vaporisation so it takes heat from the fire and cool it. Steam has 1640 times volume of water so it forms steam blanket over the fire to cut off air supply. So water extinguishes fire by cooling and smothering action. But due to some limitations water is not widely used for firefighting. These limitations are 1. If water poured on electrical circuit, it causes electric shock or shotcircuit. So normally water is not allowed for fighting fire on electrical system. 2. Normal water hydrant or firefighting system operated at high pressure (9-12 kg/cm2) which requires well-trained firemen. Normal man cannot handle the high-pressure hose. Also, if pressure jet of water hits any body or equipment directly, it damages the equipment or leads to injury to human being. 3. Only 5 10 % of total water poured through fire hydrant system is utilised to extinguish the fire. This is not only wastages of water but also leads to water pool and ground water contamination. Advanced Fire Technology (AFT) has developed new technology to harvest the advantages of water as extinguishing media by overcoming abovementioned limitations.

The technology:
AFTs main technology is in creation of optimum droplet sizes, i.e. 100 150 micron of water mist, which has made AFTs technology a unique one. The flames reflect the droplets that are too small and the droplets, which are too large, often pass through the fire and make pool of water behind the fire. Hardly, 5 10% of water really fights fire, if the droplet sizes are too large. AFTs water mist, with a droplet size of 100-150 micron, penetrates deep into the flame and smothers the fire at its core/root. These droplets, having penetrated into the fire, get converted in steam and expand by 1640 times to form a steam blanket over the fire to cut off air supply and at the same time takes away heat from the fire while forming steam.

The AFT Gun

A patented technology from rocket engineering (aerodynamics technology) has produced fire-fighting systems that have three to four times the extinguishing effect of conventional devices. Indeed, compared to a simple Cpipe, effectiveness is improved 20-fold.

AFT fire extinguishing systems consist of a compressed air bottle and another liquid (water) tank for the extinguishing agent. The device developed by AFT require a low operational pressure, because the 300 bar in the compressed air tank are reduced to 7.5 bar at the outlet by a pressure regulator specially developed by AFT. The extinguishing effectiveness is achieved by exploiting the physical characteristics of gas dynamics. The water vapour generated by a special atomizing technique integrated in the pistol section, producing a homogeneous water/air mixture. A special nozzle is used to increase the droplet expulsion velocity even further; the nozzle cross-section is constricted to such an extent that the particles reach the speed of sound. The subsequent funnel shaped extension piece increases the speed even further. (Please refer fig. 1) Special fittings make it possible to reduce water consumption by altogether around 95 percent when fighting fires from distances of up to 18 metres with an optimum droplet size of between 100 and 150 microns. 9 liters AFTs water mists extinguisher is equivalent to 6000 litres water spared through fire tender or fire hydrant system. Once the water vapour reaches the fire, the evaporation heat withdraws the necessary energy from the flames. In addition, the water vapour displaces the oxygen needed by the fire, and the surroundings are protected from heat radiation.

Reliability of the AFT fire extinguishers

Reliability of new technology can be judged from the certification from international standards and complying testing standards set by international reputed testing labs. AFT Fire Fighting Systems have been awarded following certificates and licenses: 1. Quality & performance certificate from TUV (international quality standard) 2. European Standard EN3 / DIN with highest rating of B-233 & A-55 3. ISO 9001 certification 4. CE & GS approval 5. SASO approval 6. SBG Marine certificate 7. Won gold medal for patented technology award 8. Chief Controller of Explosives, Nagpur

Advantages:
1. Normally available CO2, DCP and ABC portable fire extinguishers are good at the ignition stage of fire. Usually, by the time one realises the fire and gets ready to do something to put off, the fire gets into blaze. At this juncture, no traditional extinguishers are good enough to put off blazing fire. One has to call a Fire Tender. AFT equipment can put out a blazing fire in a few seconds. The fire extinguisher medium being water mists, no collateral damage takes place and the extinguishing agent is eco-friendly. AFT equipment can be used for all classes (A, B & C class) fires. It is certified by DNV up to 36000V live electrical line from 1 mtr. distance. The portable AFT system using just 9 litres of water have been certified by European Norms EN3/DIN, with highest ratings of B-233 (i.e. 155 liters of petrol fire) and of A-55 (i.e. 55 sq. m. area of solid fire). Traditional fire extinguishers need to fight the fire from a close proximity, this endangering his safety (in case of major fire). Whereas, AFT system can shoot at a fire from a distance of 18 mtrs. As per Factory Mutual Research, USA AFT equipment is safe than CO2 Flooding system and fire extinguishers for close system to avoid any asphyxiation. AFT 9 litres system takes only 58 seconds to put out a blazing fire from 15 litres petrol burning in a pit of 7.2 sq. mt. As per EN/DINB233, whereas a fire tender or conventional fire hydrant system would take 3 minutes to put off and would consume 6000 litres of water. Operation, Maintenance & Economical Advantages: Lightweight and backpack system, easy handling and flexibility of the AFT extinguishing gun. Speed intense cooling effect prevents re-ignition and flashover effects, reduces the ambient heat drastically. Gun and other accessories are virtually maintenance free. Only filter requires cleaning. Refilling of the AFT system can be achieved in less than 1 minute and as often as required. Reduces the consumption of water, property damage and ground water contamination. Cost effective due to its long life span, re-usability and refilling cost. Less manpower deployment. No need to specially trained fireman. Less water damage, less wastewater disposal cost & less cost clean up of affected area.

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AFT GUN TECHNOLOGY (PATENTED)

Picture showing fighting fire-keeping distance

AFT Fire Extinguishers 1. Normal & 2. Trolley mounted