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Fire Retardant
A fire retardant is a substance that is used to slow down or stop the spread of fire or reduce its intensity. This is commonly accomplished by chemical reactions that reduce the flammability of fuels or delay their combustion. Fire retardants may also cool the fuel through physical action or endothermic chemical reactions. Fire retardants are available as powder, to be mixed with water, as fire-fighting foams and fire-retardant gels. Fire retardants are also available as coatings or sprays to be applied to an object. Fire retardants are commonly used in fire fighting, where they may be applied aerially or from the ground. Principles of operation In general, fire retardants reduce the flammability of materials by either blocking the fire physically or by initiating a chemical reaction that stops the fire. Physical action There are several ways in which the combustion process can be retarded by physical action: * By cooling: Some chemical reactions actually cool the ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aluminium Hydroxide
Aluminium hydroxide, Al(OH)3, is found in nature as the mineral gibbsite (also known as hydrargillite) and its three much rarer polymorphs: bayerite, doyleite, and nordstrandite. Aluminium hydroxide is amphoteric, i.e., it has both basic and acidic properties. Closely related are aluminium oxide hydroxide, AlO(OH), and aluminium oxide or alumina (Al2O3), the latter of which is also amphoteric. These compounds together are the major components of the aluminium ore bauxite. Aluminium hydroxide also forms a gelatinous precipitate in water. Structure Al(OH)3 is built up of double layers of hydroxyl groups with aluminium ions occupying two-thirds of the octahedral holes between the two layers. Four polymorphs are recognized. All feature layers of octahedral aluminium hydroxide units, with hydrogen bonds between the layers. The polymorphs differ in terms of the stacking of the layers. All forms of Al(OH)3 crystals are hexagonal : * gibbsite is also known as γ-Al(OH)3 o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tumbleweed Fire, Los Angeles County 2021, Part 9
A tumbleweed is a structural part of the above-ground anatomy of a number of species of plants. It is a diaspore that, once mature and dry, detaches from its root or stem and rolls due to the force of the wind. In most such species, the tumbleweed is in effect the entire plant apart from the root system, but in other plants, a hollow fruit or inflorescence might detach instead. Xerophyte tumbleweed species occur most commonly in steppe and arid ecosystems, where frequent wind and the open environment permit rolling without prohibitive obstruction. Apart from its primary vascular system and roots, the tissues of the tumbleweed structure are dead; their death is functional because it is necessary for the structure to degrade gradually and fall apart so that its seeds or spores can escape during the tumbling, or germinate after the tumbleweed has come to rest in a wet location. In the latter case, many species of tumbleweed open mechanically, releasing their seeds as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fire Class
A fire class is a system of categorizing fire with regard to the type of material and fuel for combustion. Class letters are often assigned to the different types of fire, but these differ between territories. There are separate standards for the United States, Europe, and Australia. This is used to determine the type of extinguishing agent that can be used for that fire class. Class A: Ordinary combustibles Class A fires consist of ordinary combustibles such as wood, paper, fabric, and most kinds of trash. They may be extinguished by water, wet chemical suppression, or dry chemical powder. Class B: Flammable liquid Class B fires are those where the fuel is flammable or combustible liquid. The US system includes flammable gases in their "Class B". In the European/Australian system, flammable liquids are designated "Class B" having flash point less than . These fires follow the same basic fire tetrahedron (heat, fuel, oxygen, chemical reaction) as ordinary combustibl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermal Insulation
Thermal insulation is the reduction of heat transfer (i.e., the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature) between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Thermal insulation can be achieved with specially engineered methods or processes, as well as with suitable object shapes and materials. Heat flow is an inevitable consequence of contact between objects of different temperature. Thermal insulation provides a region of insulation in which thermal conduction is reduced, creating a thermal break or thermal barrier, or thermal radiation is reflected rather than absorbed by the lower-temperature body. The insulating capability of a material is measured as the inverse of thermal conductivity (k). Low thermal conductivity is equivalent to high insulating capability ( resistance value). In thermal engineering, other important properties of insulating materials are product density (ρ) and specific heat capacity (c). Definitio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intumescent
An intumescent is a substance that swells as a result of heat exposure, leading to an increase in volume and decrease in density. Intumescent materials are typically used in passive fire protection and require listing, approval, and compliance in their installed configurations in order to comply with the national building codes and laws. The details for individual building parts are specified in technical standards which are compiled and published by national or international standardization bodies like the British Standards Institute (BSI), the German Institute for Standardization (DIN), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or the International Standardization Organization (ISO). Intumescent coatings for steel constructions must be approved in standardized fire tests. Types Soft char These intumescent materials produce a light char which is a poor conductor of heat, thus retarding heat transfer. Typically the light char consist of microporous carbonaceous fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon makes up only about 0.025 percent of Earth's crust. Three isotopes occur naturally, C and C being stable, while C is a radionuclide, decaying with a half-life of about 5,730 years. Carbon is one of the few elements known since antiquity. Carbon is the 15th most abundant element in the Earth's crust, and the fourth most abundant element in the universe by mass after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. Carbon's abundance, its unique diversity of organic compounds, and its unusual ability to form polymers at the temperatures commonly encountered on Earth, enables this element to serve as a common element of all known life. It is the second most abundant element in the human body by mass (about 18.5%) after oxygen. The atoms of carbon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Char (chemistry)
Char is the solid material that remains after light gases (e.g. coal gas) and tar have been driven out or released from a carbonaceous material during the initial stage of combustion, which is known as carbonization, charring, devolatilization or pyrolysis. Further stages of efficient combustion (with or without char deposits) are known as gasification reactions, ending quickly when the reversible gas phase of the water gas shift reaction is reached. See also * Biochar * Charcoal * Coke (fuel) * Petroleum coke * Shale oil extraction * Spent shale Spent shale or spent oil shale (also known as retorted shale) is a solid residue from the shale oil extraction process of producing synthetic shale oil from oil shale. It consists of inorganic compounds (minerals) and remaining organic matter know ... Oil shale Coal {{Chem-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptability, plus a wide range of other properties, such as being lightweight, durable, flexible, and inexpensive to produce, has led to its widespread use. Plastics typically are made through human industrial systems. Most modern plastics are derived from fossil fuel-based chemicals like natural gas or petroleum; however, recent industrial methods use variants made from renewable materials, such as corn or cotton derivatives. 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic are estimated to have been made between 1950 and 2017. More than half this plastic has been produced since 2004. In 2020, 400 million tonnes of plastic were produced. If global trends on plastic demand continue, it is estimated that by 2050 annual global plastic production will reach ove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polymer
A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + '' -mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic and natural polymers play essential and ubiquitous roles in everyday life. Polymers range from familiar synthetic plastics such as polystyrene to natural biopolymers such as DNA and proteins that are fundamental to biological structure and function. Polymers, both natural and synthetic, are created via polymerization of many small molecules, known as monomers. Their consequently large molecular mass, relative to small molecule compounds, produces unique physical properties including toughness, high elasticity, viscoelasticity, and a tendency to form amorphous and semicrystalline structures rather than crystals. The term "polymer" derives from the Greek word πολύς (''polus'', meaning "many, much") and μέρος (''meros' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PhostrEx
PhostrEx is a fire suppression agent developed for use in aviation applications to replace halon, a greenhouse gas (GHG). It was developed by Eclipse Aviation for use aboard their Eclipse 500 very light jets as an engine fire suppression system, and is now being marketed to other aviation manufacturers. Overview The PhostrEx fire suppression system addresses many of the problems with halon, from system weight to environmental concerns. These concerns, including halon's ozone-depleting and global warming characteristics, prompted the Montreal Protocol to outlaw its use. The only exception allowed by this international treaty was in aviation applications, and only until a suitable replacement became available. PhostrEx meets the requirements of both the Montreal Protocol and the Clean Air Act, and is the first commercially viable Federal Aviation Administration and United States Environmental Protection Agency certified halon replacement fire extinguishing agent. The EPA awarded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
