Frequently, an individual who requirements a fire extinguisher will obtain an ABC fire extinguisher devoid of giving substantially believed to the actual fire hazards they need to guard against. When shopping for fire extinguishers, you need to know quite a few issues about extinguishers in order to make an informed choice, particularly, the fire class you need to safeguard against and unique situations you will need to look at (computer electronics, for instance).
Classes of fire extinguishers
When it comes to fire extinguishers, there are five classes of fires: A, B, C, D, and K.
Class A – Fire extinguishers rated for Class A fires have a green triangle with an “A” in the center as properly as a pictogram of a garbage can and wood burning. These extinguishers are applied to place out fires for common combustibles like paper, cloth, rubber, and some plastics (components that leave ash when burnt, therefore, the “A”).
Class B – Fire extinguishers rated for Class B fires have a red square with a “B” in the center as well as a pictogram of a gasoline can with a burning puddle. These extinguishers are employed to extinguish fires for flammable liquids like gasoline, lubricating oil, diesel fuel, and a lot of organic solvents identified in laboratories (points found in barrels, therefore “B”).
Class C – Fire extinguishers rated for Class C fires have a blue circle with a “C” in the center as properly as a pictogram of an electric plug with a burning outlet. These extinguishers are utilized to extinguish electrical fires for energized electrical equipment, electric motors, circuit panels, switches, and tools (“C” for present-electrical).
Class D – Fire extinguishers rated for Class D fires have a yellow pentagram (star) with a “D” in the center as properly as a pictogram of a burning gear and bearing. These extinguishers are applied to extinguish fires from metals and metal alloys like titanium, sodium, and magnesium.
Class K – Class K fire extinguishers are applied particularly for cooking fires from grease, fat, and cooking oil (“K” for kitchen).
You can get fire extinguishers with a single class rating or many fire class ratings (ABC or BC, for instance).
Fire extinguishing supplies
Fire extinguishers use distinct supplies for extinguishing fires. When deciding upon your extinguisher, you need to decide what kind of fire you may be fighting and then select the very best extinguishing material for your application.
Water: Water, or APW, extinguishers use pressurized water to extinguish fires. APW extinguishers can only be used for Class A fires (combustibles such as paper, cloth, and so forth.) they cannot be used for putting out other classes of fires.
Dry chemical: Dry chemical substances are used to extinguish A-, B-, C-, or D-kind fires. They operate by putting a fine layer of chemical dust on the material that is burning. Dry chemical extinguishers are quite powerful at placing out fires. Even so, dry chemical extinguishers can be abrasive and corrosive to electronics and certain other materials.
Carbon dioxide: Carbon dioxide performs by removing oxygen from the immediate vicinity of the fire. Carbon dioxide extinguishers are only ever utilised for B (flammable liquid) and C (electrical fires) extinguishers. For computer system, medical and scientific equipment, and aircraft electronics, carbon dioxide would be a much better decision than dry chemical extinguishers since a carbon dioxide extinguisher leaves no residue.
Metal/sand: Some class D fire extinguishers use metal or sand, such as sodium chloride (NaCl) or powdered copper metal, to smother fires from metals and metal alloys.
Special applications
Some fire hazards demand specialized extinguishers. Here are a handful of examples of these applications.
Metal or sand extinguishers are employed to place out class D (metal and metal alloy) fires:
Salt (sodium chloride–NaCl) is the most frequently utilised material in metal/sand extinguishers. NaCl extinguishers function nicely with fires involving magnesium, sodium, potassium, alloys of potassium and sodium, uranium, and powdered aluminum.
Sodium carbonate extinguishers are also made use of on fires involving sodium, potassium, and alloys of potassium and sodium. Exactly where strain corrosion of stainless steel is a consideration, this form of fire extinguisher would be a superior decision than an NaCl extinguisher.
Powdered copper (Cu) metal is used for fires involving lithium and lithium alloys.
Graphite powder extinguishers are utilised on lithium fires as well as fires that involve high-melting-point metals like titanium and zirconium.
Sodium-bicarbonate-primarily based extinguishers are utilised on fires involving metal alkyls and pyrophoric liquids.
Halotron I is a clean agent replacement for Halon 1211, which was banned from use due to its ozone depleting properties. Halotron I extinguishers are used for extinguishing fires in laptop rooms, clean rooms, and where telecommunications equipment or electronics are present. Halotron leaves no residue and is nonconducting but is much more high priced than carbon dioxide. It should really be noted that Halotron I will no longer be produced right after 2015.
ABS باب -36 (CleanGuard) extinguishers are an additional clean agent replacement for Halon 1211. FE-36 extinguishers are less toxic than Halon 1211 and Halotron I and reportedly have no ozone-depleting prospective. FE-36 is also applied for fires in laptop or computer rooms, clean rooms, and exactly where telecommunications equipment or electronics are present. In contrast to Halotron I, FE-36 is not planned for phase-out.
Nonmagnetic fire extinguishers: Wherever sturdy magnets are in use, for example, near magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers (NMRSs), nonmagnetic fire extinguishers should be chosen. The strong magnetic fields generated by this kind of gear can bring about steel cylinder fire extinguishers to fly across a area with deadly force.