Establishing Regularities in the Insulating Capacity of a Foaming Agent for Localizing Flammable Liquids

Abstract

Designing environmentally friendly protective materials for flammable liquids makes it possible to influence the processes of heat resistance and the physical-chemical properties of a protective coating over a certain time until the emergency is eliminated. Therefore, there is a need to study the conditions that form a barrier for thermal conductivity and to define a mechanism for decelerating the transfer of heat to a flammable liquid by using a foaming agent. Given this, a mathematical model has been built for the process of changing the concentration of a foaming agent when used as a coating. Based on the experimental data, it was established that the foaming layer destruction process took place over 618 s until the achieved critical thickness of the foaming layer made the conductivity cease. According to the derived dependences, the concentration value was calculated at which the critical value of the foaming layer thickness is achieved, which leads to the ignition of a flammable liquid, and is about 25 %. It has been proven that the process of decelerating the temperature involves the decomposition of a foaming agent under the influence of the temperature, with heat absorption and foam release, the insulation of heat at the surface of the flammable liquid. Given this, it has become possible to define the conditions for protecting flammable liquids using foaming agents by forming a barrier to thermal conductivity. Experimental studies have confirmed that under the influence of water evaporation and foaming agent diffusion into a layer of the flammable liquid, the critical amount of the foaming agent reached a minimum in 606 s and only then the flammable liquid ignited. Thus, there is reason to argue about the possibility of using foaming agents to protect the leaks of flammable liquids, capable of forming a protective layer at the surface of the material. It also becomes possible to establish methods for assessing the insulating capacity of a foaming agent that could inhibit the rate of temperature penetration and the release of flammable liquids' vapors

Keywords: protective equipment; fire resistance; weight loss; surface treatment; insulation of flammable liquid; diffusion