Sucrose Based Environmentally Suitable Aerosol Forming Composite for Fire Extinguishing Applications

Condensed aerosol based fire extinguishants have gained more importance in recent years due to their excellent fire extinguishing efficiencies. The development of environmentally benign aerosol-forming composites (AFCs) for these systems is the focus of the current work. Potassium nitrate considered as an oxidant and sucrose as fuel cum binder. The composition was optimized for the ratio of oxidant and fuel (66:34). Iron (III) oxide (Fe2O3) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) were added as burn rate modifiers to see their effect on burn rate, combustion efficiency and fire extinguishing concentration (FEC). AFCs were characterized using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). AFCs exhibited variable burn rates (2.49-12.51 mm/s) and excellent combustion efficiency (≥ 96%). FEC reduced to 47.8 g/m³ with iron oxide based AFC. Potassium carbonate, bicarbonate, and hydroxide were fund in aerosols. pH readings of collected aerosols at different points within the fire test chamber indicated uniform distribution of aerosols. Results implied that sucrose based AFCs are the upright option for creation of environmentally friendly aerosol based fire extinguishants.