Dear All,
Please help me in clearing the following doubts:
1. Can Halon extinguishers still be used, or are they banned? Why?
2. Can Soda Acid Type extinguishers still be used, or are they banned? Why?
3. Can Chemical Foam extinguishers still be used, or are they banned? Why?
Looking forward to getting positive feedback on the thread.
Regards,
Dipil Kumar V
From India
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730Please help me in clearing the following doubts:
1. Can Halon extinguishers still be used, or are they banned? Why?
2. Can Soda Acid Type extinguishers still be used, or are they banned? Why?
3. Can Chemical Foam extinguishers still be used, or are they banned? Why?
Looking forward to getting positive feedback on the thread.
Regards,
Dipil Kumar V
From India
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1. Halon extinguishers are banned because Halon gas harms the environment.
2. Soda Acid extinguishers are banned because their operating procedure was dangerous and could injure the operator.
In the revised text, I corrected the spelling and grammar errors, ensuring proper paragraph formatting with a single line break between the two points. The original meaning and tone of the message have been preserved.
From India, Thana
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2. Soda Acid extinguishers are banned because their operating procedure was dangerous and could injure the operator.
In the revised text, I corrected the spelling and grammar errors, ensuring proper paragraph formatting with a single line break between the two points. The original meaning and tone of the message have been preserved.
From India, Thana
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Dear Dipil,
Halon Extinguishers: Can they still be used or are they banned, and why?
Answer: Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), the U.S. banned the production of halon and import of virgin halons 1211, 1301, and 2402 beginning January 1, 1994, in compliance with the Montreal Protocol On Substances That Deplete The Ozone Layer. Recycled halon and halon inventories produced before January 1, 1994, are now the only sources of supply.
EPA's final rule published on March 5, 1998 (63 FR 11084), bans the formulation of any blend of two or more of these halons with one exception. An exemption is provided for halon blends formulated using recycled halon solely for the purpose of aviation fire protection, provided that halon blends produced under this exemption are recycled to meet the relevant purity standards for each individual halon. A fact sheet summarizing this rule is also available from the Stratospheric Ozone Protection Hotline.
Nowadays, we use Recycled Halon:
The term "critical use" is used by HRC to identify priority uses of recycled halon. A halon use is considered "critical" when a need exists "to minimize damage due to fires, explosions, or other extinguishing agents, which would otherwise result in serious impairment of an essential service to society or pose an unacceptable threat to life, the environment, or national security even though all other appropriate fire protection measures have been taken."
Soda Acid Type Extinguishers: Can they still be used or are they banned, and why?
Sorry, no idea. . .
Chemical Foam Extinguishers: Can they still be used or are they banned, and why?
Sorry, no idea.
Wait for commands.
Thanks & Besafe,
Raghu
From United States, Fpo
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Halon Extinguishers: Can they still be used or are they banned, and why?
Answer: Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), the U.S. banned the production of halon and import of virgin halons 1211, 1301, and 2402 beginning January 1, 1994, in compliance with the Montreal Protocol On Substances That Deplete The Ozone Layer. Recycled halon and halon inventories produced before January 1, 1994, are now the only sources of supply.
EPA's final rule published on March 5, 1998 (63 FR 11084), bans the formulation of any blend of two or more of these halons with one exception. An exemption is provided for halon blends formulated using recycled halon solely for the purpose of aviation fire protection, provided that halon blends produced under this exemption are recycled to meet the relevant purity standards for each individual halon. A fact sheet summarizing this rule is also available from the Stratospheric Ozone Protection Hotline.
Nowadays, we use Recycled Halon:
The term "critical use" is used by HRC to identify priority uses of recycled halon. A halon use is considered "critical" when a need exists "to minimize damage due to fires, explosions, or other extinguishing agents, which would otherwise result in serious impairment of an essential service to society or pose an unacceptable threat to life, the environment, or national security even though all other appropriate fire protection measures have been taken."
Soda Acid Type Extinguishers: Can they still be used or are they banned, and why?
Sorry, no idea. . .
Chemical Foam Extinguishers: Can they still be used or are they banned, and why?
Sorry, no idea.
Wait for commands.
Thanks & Besafe,
Raghu
From United States, Fpo
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@Amit & Raghu,
Thanks for the comments on the post. Looking for more participation. Request to all Safety Pros, please do come forward and make this a great place for knowledge sharing. The entire Safety Health forum discussions from the last few days were poor. Please do participate and share your expertise.
Regards, Dipil Kumar V
From India
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Thanks for the comments on the post. Looking for more participation. Request to all Safety Pros, please do come forward and make this a great place for knowledge sharing. The entire Safety Health forum discussions from the last few days were poor. Please do participate and share your expertise.
Regards, Dipil Kumar V
From India
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Dear Dilip,
Raghu has already given a reply to Q1.
The answer for the other 2 is as follows:
Soda Acid and Foam extinguishers (Chemical) are NOT BANNED, but as per International Fire Associations, they have been asked to be removed from the fire service. There are different versions of the same, but actually, there were many incidents following the wrong usage of fire extinguishers as there were many that were operated upright and many inverted types.
Hence, all inverted fire extinguishers were removed from fire services, but you will still find many soda acid and chemical foam extinguishers in Government sectors like railways, PO, etc.
The 1978 edition of NFPA has mentioned in their code "All inverted type extinguishers shall be removed from fire services."
For further information, even cartridge type-operated extinguishers have been outdated for many years. Only stored pressure types are to be used.
Please check NFPA-10.
Hope the query is cleared. For any further info, please feel free to contact 09925153646.
Best Regards
From India, Mumbai
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Raghu has already given a reply to Q1.
The answer for the other 2 is as follows:
Soda Acid and Foam extinguishers (Chemical) are NOT BANNED, but as per International Fire Associations, they have been asked to be removed from the fire service. There are different versions of the same, but actually, there were many incidents following the wrong usage of fire extinguishers as there were many that were operated upright and many inverted types.
Hence, all inverted fire extinguishers were removed from fire services, but you will still find many soda acid and chemical foam extinguishers in Government sectors like railways, PO, etc.
The 1978 edition of NFPA has mentioned in their code "All inverted type extinguishers shall be removed from fire services."
For further information, even cartridge type-operated extinguishers have been outdated for many years. Only stored pressure types are to be used.
Please check NFPA-10.
Hope the query is cleared. For any further info, please feel free to contact 09925153646.
Best Regards
From India, Mumbai
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@ Neeraj,
Thanks a lot for your valuable reply and helping in solving the issue. I have noted down your number and will call you surely when in need.
I have undergone one Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting training recently. During the training, the faculty was explaining about halon extinguishers. He emphasized that Halon is the best extinguisher which we can use, and it is commonly seen in vehicles and most kitchens in European countries. As I was not sure about the facts behind Halon, I did not get more chance to debate with him on the topic at that time.
As per Raghu's post and referring online, it was found that Halon can be used only for critical operations as laid out by HRC. What all areas will come under this Critical Use? Does the use of Halon inside vehicles or kitchens fall under the classification of critical use or not?
Once again, thanks to all the participants and looking forward to hearing more on the topic.
Regards,
Dipil Kumar V
From India
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Thanks a lot for your valuable reply and helping in solving the issue. I have noted down your number and will call you surely when in need.
I have undergone one Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting training recently. During the training, the faculty was explaining about halon extinguishers. He emphasized that Halon is the best extinguisher which we can use, and it is commonly seen in vehicles and most kitchens in European countries. As I was not sure about the facts behind Halon, I did not get more chance to debate with him on the topic at that time.
As per Raghu's post and referring online, it was found that Halon can be used only for critical operations as laid out by HRC. What all areas will come under this Critical Use? Does the use of Halon inside vehicles or kitchens fall under the classification of critical use or not?
Once again, thanks to all the participants and looking forward to hearing more on the topic.
Regards,
Dipil Kumar V
From India
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Dear Dipilji,
After discussing with my S.O., please find the answer to your Question No. 3:
Chemical Foam Extinguishers can still be used, or is it banned and why?
Chemical foam or Aqueous Film Forming Foam or AFFF (pronounced A-triple-F) is not banned. In the last 15 years, it has become one of the most popular fire extinguishers in the chemical industry. It is very suitable for Class B (flammable liquids such as petrol, hexane, methanol, spirits, diesel) and can be used for Class A fires (wood, paper, material, cloth, etc.). It should never be used on live electrical equipment.
Regards,
Abhay
From India, Mumbai
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After discussing with my S.O., please find the answer to your Question No. 3:
Chemical Foam Extinguishers can still be used, or is it banned and why?
Chemical foam or Aqueous Film Forming Foam or AFFF (pronounced A-triple-F) is not banned. In the last 15 years, it has become one of the most popular fire extinguishers in the chemical industry. It is very suitable for Class B (flammable liquids such as petrol, hexane, methanol, spirits, diesel) and can be used for Class A fires (wood, paper, material, cloth, etc.). It should never be used on live electrical equipment.
Regards,
Abhay
From India, Mumbai
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(Fact Checked)-[response] Chemical foam extinguishers are not banned and are suitable for Class B and Class A fires but should not be used on live electrical equipment. (1 Acknowledge point)
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Dear Neeraj, Dipil, Abhay, Girish,
Thank you very much for your comments.
@ Dipil, I think the inside of a vehicle or kitchen does not come under critical areas. I will discuss this with my senior and then post again about critical areas.
Thanks & Besafe,
Raghu
From United States, Fpo
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Thank you very much for your comments.
@ Dipil, I think the inside of a vehicle or kitchen does not come under critical areas. I will discuss this with my senior and then post again about critical areas.
Thanks & Besafe,
Raghu
From United States, Fpo
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Dear Dilip,
Halon extinguishers and Total flooding systems can be used in certain developing countries up to 2012. However, the production and refilling are BANNED throughout the world. Yes, at one time and even today there is no comparison to Halon as far as fire extinguishing is concerned, but as it has a damaging effect on the Ozone layer, it has been banned by the Montreal Protocol. Nowadays, what you see in kitchens and vehicles are NOT halon, but earlier it used to be Halon.
Dear Abhay,
AFFF is the only foam used for fighting class B fires, and you will find this foam throughout the world in refineries and petrochemical plants. Chemical foam has become obsolete. Nowadays, some have started using FFFP and polar solvent foam according to the hazards.
Thank you.
From India, Mumbai
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Halon extinguishers and Total flooding systems can be used in certain developing countries up to 2012. However, the production and refilling are BANNED throughout the world. Yes, at one time and even today there is no comparison to Halon as far as fire extinguishing is concerned, but as it has a damaging effect on the Ozone layer, it has been banned by the Montreal Protocol. Nowadays, what you see in kitchens and vehicles are NOT halon, but earlier it used to be Halon.
Dear Abhay,
AFFF is the only foam used for fighting class B fires, and you will find this foam throughout the world in refineries and petrochemical plants. Chemical foam has become obsolete. Nowadays, some have started using FFFP and polar solvent foam according to the hazards.
Thank you.
From India, Mumbai
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Dear Neeraj,
Once again, thanks for the explanations and providing the latest updates regarding firefighting.
@Abhay,
Thanks for your comments and for appreciating your interest in participating in this thread and the initiative you took in discussing this topic with your Safety Officer. As rightly pointed out by Mr. Neeraj, Chemical Foam is obsolete now and has been replaced by air foam. There are mainly two types of Foam Extinguishers: Mechanical and Chemical. AFFF is the agent used in Mechanical Type extinguishers, wherein Chemical Foam extinguishers contain a solution of sodium bicarbonate and aluminum sulfate. My question was particularly about Chemical Foam. Now you can discuss with your Safety Officer; he might be thinking about the Mechanical Foam type and give an answer. Come back with your comments, Abhay, if any.
Halon is nowadays being replaced with Clean Agent or Inert Gas systems.
Thanks to all for your valuable participation.
Regards,
Dipil Kumar V
From India
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Once again, thanks for the explanations and providing the latest updates regarding firefighting.
@Abhay,
Thanks for your comments and for appreciating your interest in participating in this thread and the initiative you took in discussing this topic with your Safety Officer. As rightly pointed out by Mr. Neeraj, Chemical Foam is obsolete now and has been replaced by air foam. There are mainly two types of Foam Extinguishers: Mechanical and Chemical. AFFF is the agent used in Mechanical Type extinguishers, wherein Chemical Foam extinguishers contain a solution of sodium bicarbonate and aluminum sulfate. My question was particularly about Chemical Foam. Now you can discuss with your Safety Officer; he might be thinking about the Mechanical Foam type and give an answer. Come back with your comments, Abhay, if any.
Halon is nowadays being replaced with Clean Agent or Inert Gas systems.
Thanks to all for your valuable participation.
Regards,
Dipil Kumar V
From India
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CiteHR.AI
(Fact Checked)-The information provided in the user's reply is accurate regarding the use of Soda Acid and Chemical Foam extinguishers and the removal of inverted types from fire services. The reference to NFPA-10 is also relevant. (1 Acknowledge point)