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MINUTES OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE & CHAPTER MEETINGS

February 2007               August 2007             December 2007          January 2008

On February 11, 2008, Mr. Lorne Levesque, technical sales representative with Fireflex Systems, Inc., gave us a fascinating presentation on the evolution of compressed air foam system technology.  This is an area that’s new and exciting!  Since the first reported use of compressed foam air systems by the Army in 1941 for hand lines, significant progress has been made.  This foam technology can now be used to effectively protect various types of combustible and flammable liquid hazards.  Flammable liquid applications include both miscible and non-miscible types, with only 25% of the water supply requirements as compared to conventional low expansion foam-water systems.

In 1994, the first fixed compressed foam system was developed for the Canadian Navy.  Then in 2001 licensing agreements were made with NRC-Canada. The Fireflex Integrated Compressed Air Foam (ICAF) system was FM approved in 2004 and has recently been recognized in chapter 7 of  NFPA 11.  In 2006 FM approval was granted for systems for miscible liquid applications.

CAF foam is a type of low expansion AFFF foam, about 10:1 expansion ratio, uniform and stable, and has a long drain time.  With a consistency of shaving cream, it is generated by the simultaneous injection of water, compressed air and foam concentrate into a piping system.  The engineering challenge has been to produce foam with stable quality while flowing through the piping system.  The hardware is basically compressed air cylinders, water supply, piping, distribution nozzles and foam proportioning tank.  Plant air can be used if reliable.

Comparisons with conventional foam-water systems are impressive.  For example, if used on hydrocarbons where a conventional foam-water system uses 0.16 gpm/sq ft @ 3% concentrate, the ICAF system uses 0.04 gpm/sq ft @ 2% concentrate.  Nozzles typically discharge at 6 gpm. There is also a shorter discharge time involved with the ICAF system versus conventional foam-water systems.  However, the system cost is between 2 and 2.5 times that of a conventional system.  The economics can often justify such a system where the cost of a proper water supply is very high, or when drainage utilities are very limited.

Successful applications have been made for hydraulic presses, diesel generators, lube oil skids, mining, diesel storage and refueling, rolling mills, pump rooms, and oil storage rooms.

Much more info on the subject can be attained by going to the vendor website, www.fireflex.com.  Reportedly several fire tests of the product are viewable at that site.

(Submitted by K. Mniszewski, 2/15/08)

On January 14, 2008, Daniel Madrzykowski, a Fire Protection Engineer with NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), gave a very informative presentation to the joint group on Fatal Training Fires. NIST has investigated the fire conditions of two very different fire training incidents that resulted in the loss of life.

Live firefighter training today falls under the standard, NFPA 1403, Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions. The purpose of the standard is to provide a process of conducting live training in a safe manner. It requires that instructors have a knowledge of fire behavior and requires limiting fuel loads and other parameters to avoid an uncontrolled flashover or backdraft.

One incident occurred in an acquired structure and the other in a concrete training tower.

In the acquired structure fire, a large fire load was augmented by interior finish materials that resulted in an uncontrolled flashover after the window was vented. In the training building fire, a large fire load was augmented by energy stored in the walls, ceiling and floor that resulted in convective and radiant energy levels that were high enough to compromise fire fighter protective gear, potentially even between peak fire events.

In both cases, NIST conducted real scale fire experiments to gain insight into the thermal conditions that may have existed during the incidents. The results of the experiments were presented and discussed, so that future incidents of this type can be avoided by a better understanding of fuel and ventilation parameters.

This study is one of many by NIST to assist the fire service in the practical understanding of fire dynamics. In each incident, it appeared that extremely high heat conditions had occurred. The experiments undertaken examine the impact of fuel load and structure in terms of ventilation and heat transfer on the fire environment.

To download and read a summary of each incident and a discussion of how the incidents were simulated with real scale fire experiments, go to the internet address http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/fire07/PDF/f07052.pdf.  (Submitted by K. Mniszewski, 1/16/08)

On October 29, 2007, two of our own chapter members, Kerry Bell and George Laverick from Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. presented a summary of changes to the 2007 edition of  NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems.  They are both members of the NFPA 13 committee. This was obviously of great interest to the membership as evidenced by the good turnout.

Significant technical changes were cited, chapter by chapter. 

Their self-explanatory PowerPoint presentation is available online.  This presentation gives the highlights of technical changes for each chapter (too numerous to list here).

(Submitted by K. Mniszewski, 10/30/07)