Experimental investigation on extinguishing performance of a novel nanocomposite for gaseous fires

A novel nanocomposite was synthesized by incorporating three different types of flame-retardants and its extinguishing performance was tested for gaseous fires. The nanocomposite consists of the inorganic magnesium hydroxide (MH) nanoparticles as the dominant component, the nitrogen-based melamine cyanurate (MCA), and the phosphorus-based ODOPB. The wet mixing, dry mixing, and ultrasonic agitation were employed in the preparation process to enhance the homogeneity of the nanocomposite. The prepared powders were characterized using a series of analytical instruments including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravity analyzer (TGA), and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The efficiency of various samples in extinguishing gaseous fires was investigated in a lab-scale extinguishing system. The fire extinguishing tests indicated that the nanocomposite is considerably more effective in fire extinguishing than other powders in terms of extinction time and agent mass consumed. The fire extinction time of nanocomposite was 45.2% shorter than that of commercial ABC-MAP powder. Furthermore, the consumed amount of nanocomposite was 63.2% less than that of commercial powder. In addition, the order of extinguishing mass concentrations was as follows: the novel nanocomposite (103.7 g/m³) < MH/MCA (148.1 g/m³) < MH/ODOPB (155.6 g/m³) < MH (170.4 g/m³) < commercial ABC powder (281.5 g/m³) < MCA/ODOPB (384.1 g/m³). The fire suppression mechanisms of the nanocomposite were also discussed. It was inferred that the extinguishing mechanism of nanocomposite comprised of simultaneous chemical and physical inhibition actions involving chemical inhibition action, cooling action, and asphyxiation action. This study provides a promising attempt to gain benefits from the striking features of nanotechnology and flame-retardants in extinguishing gaseous fires.