Analysis of the Impact of Water Flow Rate on the Temperature Variability in a Closed Room during the Extinguishing of A-Group Fire Using a Hybrid Water Mist Suppression System

The advantage of hybrid fire suppression systems is that they combine the advantages of both water mist and clean agent systems. Currently, this innovative technology is increasingly used in fixed firefighting systems. Available literature both in Polish and around the world describes this issue in a fragmentary way. Extinguishing system tests were carried out at the Main School of Fire Service in Warsaw. The impact of water mist flow rate on the temperature variability in a closed room during the extinguishing of group A fires using a hybrid water mist system was analyzed. Four different flow rates 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 3.0 dm3/min were applied. The temperature variability of selected points of a closed test chamber during extinguishing process are presented. The extinguishing efficiency, taking into account extinguishing time, average speed of temperature drop and other parameters, was estimated on the basis of proposed original criterion. The results obtained showed that water flow rate has a significant impact on temperature variability and included the determination of optimal water flow rate at which the extinguishing efficiency is the highest. The conducted research proved that the hybrid system is more effective than classic mist and gas systems when extinguishing group A fires.