Fire Extingushers

Dear Dipil,

Hi! Sorry for the delayed response.

1. Halon fire extinguishers have been banned for a long time as discussed by our friend, but they are still being used.

2. Soda Acid fire extinguishers consist of a soda water and sulfuric acid bottle fixed together. When someone punches the plunger, the sulfuric acid bottle breaks and reacts with the soda acid, producing fumes and water used for Class A type fires.

3. Foam type fire extinguishers come in two varieties: Chemical Type and Mechanical Type. In the Chemical type, two chemicals are used to create foam when they react with each other. AFFF 3% is a foam compound known as Mechanical Foam, which is used with a Foam making branch, hydrant water, and Air. The combination of Foam Compound, Water, and Air strikes the surface and falls on the liquid surface.

Looking forward to your comments.

Regards,
Shailesh

Dear Shailesh,

I am very happy to see that you are actively participating in the forum discussions. It's great to have you back and sharing your expertise with us. Thank you for your valuable inputs into the discussions. It's what we need from everyone – each contribution helps to make the threads a healthy platform for discussion.

Keep up the pace.

Regards,
Dipil Kumar V

Sorry, Halon extinguishers are not banned. They are prohibited for industrial purposes, but they are still used in aircrafts. Halon 1301 is the main type of extinguisher used in all aircraft because it is the only non-toxic and non-corrosive type. DCP or foam cannot be used due to the risk of corrosion of aircraft parts, and cleaning is not possible in some areas of the aircraft. CO2 is also not used due to the oxygen replacement issue. Therefore, Halon is not completely banned and is still in use.

Soda acid extinguishers are not in use due to difficulties in handling, but they are not banned. Foam chemical extinguishers are in use and not banned.

Hi JSK,

Cool, yaar. Can you please share with us where do you refill it once it's emptied out? This is important because we can sue him in the International Environmental Court.

It can be used in India for those who have it, but refilling and production are banned. Please go through the Environment Protection Act.

In aircraft fire fighting, foam is used. Please do not confuse the readers that foam/DCP cannot be used. Correct the statement that it should not be used in the cockpit or other sophisticated electronic items. During a crash scenario, your Halon is of no use. Only foam & DCP are used. Kindly go through videos and case studies. I hope you must have seen many real videos, e.g., the Concorde crash, etc.

Dear, you are very much behind in the fire profession. Both your statements, i.e., points 2 & 3, are wrong, which shows that your update on the same is required.

All new readers request NOT to follow any of the statements given by JSK.

Sorry, but I cannot stand any unprofessionalism in the HSEF field as this field is for life-saving.

Anyway, I am leaving from here because it's time to join the [Online Safety Community](http://www.safetycommunity.com). Goodbye.

And dear Neeraj, please learn well. Okay, but don't make fun of others. If anybody is wrong, just correct it. Remember, Mahatma Gandhi always; he is not a safety professional, but his life will teach you that no other courses or training in safety can. So try to learn his life story and emulate it.

Dear Dipil,

I saw these discussions...

According to Section 4.4 - Obsolete fire extinguishers of NFPA 10 - 2007, Soda acid and Chemical foam (excluding film-forming agents) are not in use. I have requested our vendor to find the exact reasons and the authorities if any has banned them and revert back. I will update about this later.

Regarding chemical foam - it is used by chemical reaction. Regarding mechanical foam - in addition to Shailesh, a bit in depth - the operation of the mechanical foam type extinguishers is due to an effect called Venturi effect, that is created by the water, which draws the foam into the stream. That is, when the water flows, it sucks the foam in the tube. This sucking effect is called the Venturi effect, technically. Inside, it has a metering valve, that controls the percentage of concentrate to ensure a proper mixture. The foam and water mixture passes through a nozzle, where air is introduced at the nozzle to form the finished foam.

I think this is not your exact requirement; however, after seeing the discussions, I thought of adding more.

Dear Neeraj,

Thanks for being online with us on board. We are here to support you on your stand. Let's join together. However, I was not aware of aircraft, and now I got a point to learn and a nice explanation.

Dear Ragu,

Your explanation was exactly the same regarding the CCA of US. However, I was not aware of EPA, and thank you for the data. Adding to that - Halon 1211 is typically used in portable fire extinguishers and 1301 is used in installed systems. However, the production has been stopped in the US, it still remains as an approved agent in existing systems. Nowadays there are substitutes for halon. Trade names - INERGEN, FM 200, FE 36. Out of these, FE 36 is aimed at replacing 1211, which was used primarily in the portable fire extinguishers.

Dear all,

Nice to see the participation in the discussion. I would like to add something to the discussion. We have recently procured a mini tender with an ultra-high-pressure pump, which operates at 100 bar pressure and 150 lpm throw. It turns water into a very fine spray, just like fog in winter, so it can be used on live electrical equipment as well. It has a very good cooling effect. We have tested it over a B-class fire as a demo, and it was effective. It also has a 200-liter foam capacity. Due to its small size, it can be taken to narrow areas too.

Regards, Hansa Vyas

I really appreciate all this discussion, but I think the discussion should always be supported by LEGAL PROVISION for any topic. Then it will become the best.

Halon is banned.

Soda acid is banned.

Please provide me with the notification link.

Dear All,

Great discussions so far. I missed this thread previously. The new topic to learn is aircraft safety. To the best of my knowledge, in certain applications in Defense, they are still using Halon. I am not very sure, but I can find out for the group. Nevertheless, Halon has certain environmental impacts. This thread has raised many questions for me to research the law and stay updated.

Thanks again.

Sudhir