A fire extinguisher is an essential element in a fire safety system. To eliminate fires, it is important to understand the types of fire extinguishers and the principles of their operation.
Fire is a completely unpredictable element that can cause damage on a catastrophic scale. It is for this reason that it is so important to eliminate the incipient fire in time with the help of fire-fighting means. Modern industry provides for the production of a large assortment of fire extinguishers, which differ not only in weight and shape, but also in purpose: for different types of fires and different areas of fire.
Water extinguishers
Fire extinguishers of this type include fire safety equipment designed to neutralize fires with a high pressure water jet. Water can be supplied both in the form of a strong directed jet and in the form of sprayed drops.
Fire extinguishers of this type are designed to extinguish paper, cardboard, cloth, wood, plastic or debris. For extinguishing solids, water extinguishers with a directed stream of water are used. The ignition of liquid substances is eliminated only with a fine-sprayed jet to avoid the appearance of splashes, and only with those fire extinguishers marked with the addition of special additives to the water.
If the fire extinguisher contains only pure water, then the main restrictions for such fire-fighting equipment will be prohibitions on extinguishing flammable liquids and electrical wiring.
Foam fire extinguishers
The means of neutralizing the fire in such fire extinguishers is foam, formed either by gas or as a result of a chemical reaction. Foam blocks the access of oxygen, thereby eliminating the fire. Foam type fire extinguishers are used to extinguish both solids and flammable liquids: oil, fuel, etc. in areas not exceeding 1 sq.m. Limitations of use include extinguishing electrical wiring and metals that, when chemically reacted with water, emit oxygen: potassium, sodium.
Powder fire extinguishers
The basis for a fire extinguishing dry powder of such a fire extinguisher is mineral salts with various additives. A dry powder fire extinguisher is versatile and can be used both for the fire of solids and flammable liquids, and power grids under voltage, and gases under high pressure. The only limitation for the use of powder is the combustion of alkaline earth metals and metals that burn without oxygen. The disadvantage of powder fire extinguishers is the need to work in protective masks, because the air becomes very dusty, and very dirty rooms, covered with a layer of used powder.
Carbon dioxide (gas) fire extinguishers
Carbon dioxide effectively extinguishes fire on any type of surface and can be used to extinguish fires of solid, liquid, gaseous substances and electrical wiring. The fire extinguisher leaves no residue, but is limited in use due to inefficiency over large areas. In addition, the accumulation of large amounts of carbon dioxide in the fire room can lead to poisoning, therefore it is very important to immediately go out into the fresh air after extinguishing the fire.
