What is the difference between AFFF and AR-AFFF?

AFFF and AR-AFFF consist of essentially the same ingredients. These typically include fluorosurfactants, hydrocarbon surfactants, solvents, inorganic salts, corrosion inhibitors, water; and in the case of AR- AFFF, a polymer which is typically a polysaccharide.

What is AR AFFF?

Alcohol Resistant Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AR-AFFF) concentrates are high performance synthetic foam concentrates comprised of fluorosurfactants, hydrocarbon surfactants, water soluble polymers, fluoropolymers, and polysaccharide gums.

What is AR AFFF used for?

Alcohol Resistant Aqueous Film Forming foams, AR-AFFF, are especially effective for extinguishing and securing flammable hydrocarbon and polar solvent fires. High risk facilities such as refineries, pharmaceutical plants, process areas often require AR AFFF foams.

Is AR AFFF a Class B foam?

Class B Foam Agents are ideal for suppressing fires involving petroleum-based products, LNG, rubber, and flammable and combustible liquids; such as diesel fuel, crude oil gasoline and ethanol.

What is the two basic types of foam?

Protein foams contain natural proteins and are generally biodegradable; synthetic foams are made of synthetic foaming agents.

AFFF vs. AR-AFFF on E85

What is the strongest type of foam?

Afsaneh Rabiei of North Carolina State University, has revealed the strongest metal foam ever. It can compress up to 80% of its original size under loading and still retain its original shape.

Which chemical is used in foam fire extinguisher?

Chemical foam extinguisher – The chemicals used in this foam type fire extinguisher are sodium bicarbonate and aluminium sulphate.

Does AR AFFF contain PFAS?

The vast majority of Class B firefighting foam that is currently in stock or service in the United States is AFFF or AR-AFFF. All AFFF products contain PFAS. This applies to foams used in the past and those being sold today.

What is the difference between Class A and Class B foam?

There are many different types of foam for firefighting: Class A foam is used for combustibles, structural fires and wildfires; Class B foam is used for ignitable liquids, like gasoline and diesel; and polar solvent foams help extinguish alcohol-based liquids and alcohol-type fuels.

What is Class A firefighting foam?

Class A foams are used to extinguish fires caused by wood, paper, and brush. Class A foams generally do not contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (also known as “PFAS”).

What is high expansion foam?

High expansion (HI-EX) foam agents, also called detergent foams or multipurpose synthetic foams, are typically based upon fatty alcohols, alkyl sulphates and butyl carbitol. As the name suggests they expand at high ratios to quickly form voluminous foam for specific applications in extinguishing and vapour suppression.

What does AFFF foam stand for?

Aqueous film forming foam (AFFF, or alcohol resistant AR-AFFF) is a highly effective foam used for fighting high-hazard flammable liquid fires. AFFF is usually created by combining foaming agents with fluorinated surfactants.

What is FFFP foam?

Just like the FluoroProtein (FP) foam concentrates Film forming Fluoroprotein foams are based on advanced protein foam technology and are ideal for extinguishing and securing flammable hydrocarbon liquid fires.

What is Fluoroprotein foam?

Fluoroprotein foams are derived from protein foam concentrates to which small amounts of fluorochemical surfactants are added. The fluorochemical surfactants are similar to those developed for AFFF foam concentrates but used in much lower concentrations.

Does Universal Gold foam contain PFAS?

Since the program's inception in 2002, the trailers were stocked with Universal Gold 1-3% Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF), which contains modern short-chain fluorotelomer PFAS compounds.

How many types of fire foam are there?

This standard amalgamates first three parts, namely, Part 1 Protein foam concentrate, Part 2 Aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) and Part 3 Fluoro-protein foam. The purpose of all the three types is same, that is, for use in Fire Extinguishing agent for Class 'A' and 'B' flammable liquid (Hydrocarbons) fires.

Can you mix Class A and Class B foam?

Class A and Class B foam should never be applied simultaneously or on top of one another. While mixing foams during foam application on scenes can render an operation ineffective, mixing foams in storage can cause the foam to degrade and become ineffective when used.

What is foam ratio?

Low expansion foams are considered to be those foams with an expansion ratio of 12:1 when mixed with air. That is one volume if foam concentrate will create 12 volumes of foam. Low expansion foams are effective in controlling and extinguishing most flammable liquid (Class “B”) fires.

Is PFAS still in fire fighting foam?

While every state has its own rules and regulations: California banned PFAS in food packaging and paper straws. The state has also passed legislation banning the use of PFAS in firefighting foams starting in 2028.

Does all fire fighting foam contain PFAS?

Class A firefighting foams are used for wild fires and structural fires and do not contain PFAS chemicals. However, there are cases when AFFF is used because there may be a liquid fuel in the structure or wild fire region-such as gas stations, or oil cans.

Is AFFF foam banned?

The military plans to phase out the use of firefighting foam containing PFOAs by October 2024, as directed in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020. However, this deadline is still two and a half years away, leaving little protection for the people who are exposed in the meantime.

What are the 4 types of fire extinguishers?

There are four classes of fire extinguishers – A, B, C and D – and each class can put out a different type of fire. Multipurpose extinguishers can be used on different types of fires and will be labeled with more than one class, like A-B, B-C or A-B-C.

Which formula is used in fire extinguisher?

A carbon based fire has an equation of CH4+2O2->CO2+2H2O which then the foam puts out the fire by smothering it or basically taking away the oxygen from the equation.

Which gas is used to stop fire?

Since carbon dioxide is a gas, it is easy to store and distribute. If squeezed into a steel canister, the gas streams out as you open the nozzle. Carbon dioxide is denser than oxygen. So when you spray the carbon dioxide on fire, it sinks under the oxygen, separating the fire from oxygen.