Fire Protection Research Foundation report: "Evaluation of Water Additives for Fire Control and Vapor Mitigation”
Author: Joseph Scheffey, Eric Forssell, Jarrod Childs - Hughes Associates, Inc.
Date of issue: June 2013
Introduction
Various water additives are available in today’s marketplace that claim to provide advantageous performance characteristics for fire control and vapor mitigation. Of particular interest are additives that report to provide superior fire suppression capabilities through emulsification or encapsulation. However, a scientific assessment of these various additives is lacking, and the fire protection community would benefit from an evaluation of the various available water additives for fire control and vapor mitigation. The goal of this project is to provide a comprehensive evaluation of water additives used for fire control and vapor mitigation, with the intent to clarify the fire protection benefit of using water with additives for fire suppression versus water without additives. The project objectives to achieve this goal include providing a comprehensive review of the literature, identification of key performance characteristics, review of candidate test agents, and formulation of a detailed test plan that would be implemented in a potential second phase (not included in the scope of this effort).