Performance Analysis of Novel Dry-Water Powders for Fire Scenarios in Thermal Insulation Materials
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Abstract
To mitigate the casualties and property damage caused by sudden fires in thermal insulation materials, this study employs an integrated approach comprising process optimization, laboratory experiments, and fire scene simulations. The research focuses on the performance of novel dry-water powders under combustion conditions of insulation materials. Specifically, dry-water powders were synthesized using effective fire-extinguishing components such as Mg(OH)2, Al(OH)3, APP, along with the surfactant methyl hydrogen silicone oil and the gelling agent Gellan gum, all subjected to modification treatments. The results indicate that the optimal process parameters for preparing dry-water powders are a stirring speed of 24,000 rpm, a stirring time of 5 seconds, and a SiO2 ratio of 9:100. The Al(OH)3 gel dry-water powder exhibited good flowability, with an outflow rate of 3.846 g·s-1 and a repose angle of 27.5°. The novel dry-water powders had low bulk densities, ranging from 0.312 to 0.333 g·mL-1, with the APP gel dry-water powder having the highest bulk density of 0.333 g·mL-1. The majority of the dry-water powder particles were within the size range of 1.3 to 250 μm, with the Mg(OH)2 gel dry-water powder exhibiting the smallest particle size, where d10 was 15.323 μm, d50 was 55.922 μm, and d90 was 216.172 μm. In flame tests conducted on EPS, XPS, and PU insulation materials, the APP gel dry-water powder, Mg(OH)2 gel dry-water powder, and Al(OH)3 gel dry-water powder all exhibited superior fire-extinguishing performance compared to ABC dry powder. Among them, the APP gel dry-water powder demonstrated particularly notable effectiveness in extinguishing fires in EPS and XPS, while the Al(OH)3 gel dry-water powder also performed well in PU flames. Moreover, the flowability and stability of all three gel dry-water powders were significantly enhanced, effectively reducing the challenges associated with powder filling and simultaneously improving their fire-extinguishing capabilities.