Dry water molecule. Dry water fire extinguishing system - features of the fire extinguishing agent and installation device. Fire extinguishing system design

Good afternoon, dear habra users! Have you heard about 3M?

We are a company that loves technology and innovation. We think we are similar to you in this. We invented things that you use every day, but perhaps don't even know about it! Therefore, we are opening a small series of articles devoted to 3M products and technologies.

Our first post is about Novec 1230 gas extinguishing agent, its history and applications.
A first-hand story from an employee.

Can water be dry? Or what is safe fire fighting?

Today, the word “innovation” has become firmly established in our lives; it is used so often that it seems to have lost its original meaning. I work at 3M as part of the Electronics Technology team, and every day I am exposed to the amazing world of 3M inventions, some of which you probably already know - sandpaper, Scotch tape, Post-it notes.
Bing Crosby's desire to record his radio programs led 3M to create magnetic recording tape, which became the standard for recording and broadcast studios, revolutionizing the entertainment industry. Neil Armstrong took his first step on the moon in 1969 wearing shoes whose soles were made of Thinsulate, another 3M invention. We can talk about our inventions for a long time and interestingly, but today I would like to dwell on one of them.

Video

Maybe someone has already heard about “dry water”, seen videos of people dipping passports and books into an aquarium with water, a working TV, a mobile phone or an extension cord plugged into an outlet.

Looks amazing! However, these are not tricks! This “dry water” is nothing more than an innovation from 3M, the gas fire extinguishing agent Novec 1230, developed by our company for use in gas fire extinguishing systems; moreover, this is a new class of chemicals used in international practice.

Novec 1230 is absolutely safe for electronics!

I would like to tell you about it and its amazing properties. This topic seems especially relevant today, when buildings are built much higher than the ladders of fire trucks can reach, and people do not have the ability to quickly evacuate, expensive servers store invaluable information, there are objects equipped with complex automation that require the constant presence of operators and uninterrupted work equipment, such as airport flight control centers. A simple example - dispatchers of control centers have insulating gas masks at their workplaces, in which, in the event of a gas automatic fire extinguishing system based on freon or carbon dioxide, which is fatal to humans, being activated, they must continue to work for 20 minutes before switching the operation of this Control Center to spare.

Why is this necessary?

It is known that the consequences of extinguishing a fire are often as severe as the impact of the fire itself. Water and powder spoil equipment, documentation, works of art and everything valuable that is located in the premises; gases - inergen, freon, carbon dioxide do not affect material assets so much, but they are deadly for people in the protected premises, and therefore require their immediate evacuation.
In the search for a combination of parameters of efficiency and safety of fire extinguishing agents, several generations of them have changed over the past decades, from carbon dioxide and inert gases to freons. However, for the most part they have serious limitations on their use. As I mentioned earlier, carbon dioxide systems are deadly to humans, and first-generation refrigerants are banned all over the world due to their colossal negative impact on the atmosphere. And this is an important factor, because global warming is occurring at a record pace. For example, the glacier on Mount Kilimanjaro, which according to scientists was supposed to melt by 2015, melted already in 2005

How we came up with this

Understanding the shortcomings of existing gas fire extinguishing agents, a group of 3M scientists did not modify the refrigerants, but directed their efforts in a completely new direction. It was decided to use one of 3M’s basic technology platforms – the chemistry of perfluorinated organic compounds. By the way, this technology allows the company to achieve success in the field of ultra-fine cleaning of various parts, applying protective coatings to glass, metals and plastics, as well as cooling electronic devices.
The 10-year period of research work was crowned with real success - a new class of gaseous fire extinguishing agents - fluorinated ketones - was created and introduced into international practice. Numerous tests conducted by the world's leading organizations specializing in fire safety surprised experts: fluoroketones turned out to be not only excellent fire extinguishing agents (with an efficiency similar to freons), but at the same time showed a very positive environmental and toxicological profile.

A bit of boring chemistry

So, fluoroketones. These are synthetic organic substances in the molecule of which all hydrogen atoms are replaced by fluorine atoms firmly bound to the carbon skeleton. Such changes make the substance inert from the point of view of interaction with other molecules. Why "dry" water?
Novec 1230 (FK-5-1-12) (fluoroketone C-6) is a colorless transparent liquid with a slight odor, which is 1.6 times heavier than water and, most importantly, does not conduct electricity. Its dielectric constant is 2.3 (dried nitrogen is taken as a unit as a standard).

Novec 1230 exiting the nozzle during fire fighting

The innovative properties of this fire extinguishing agent are explained by the structure of its six-carbon molecule, which has weak bonds. They allow Novec 1230 to quickly transition from a liquid to a gaseous state and actively absorb the thermal energy of the fire. Fire suppression is carried out due to the cooling effect (70%). A chemical flame inhibition reaction also occurs (30%). At the same time, the oxygen concentration in the room does not decrease (which is important for increasing the time for evacuating people from the room). The substance instantly evaporates without entering into chemical reactions, which avoids causing damage to materials and expensive equipment, and its dielectric properties prevent short circuits.

How it works?

Another important property of fluoroketones is their extremely low solubility in water, which does not allow the substance to pass through cell membranes into the body, i.e. ensures their low toxicity and high heat capacity of vapors, leading to active cooling of the flame and its extinguishing. This means that people who are in the room when the system is activated are not in danger. The Flight Control Centers at Vnukovo and Koltsovo airports are equipped with a fire extinguishing system based on Novec 1230; dispatchers can carry out their work when the system is triggered without putting their lives at risk.

How does this affect a person?

I will separately dwell on such an indicator as the degree of safety of a fire extinguishing agent for people. It is determined by the difference between the working concentration and the maximum permissible concentration. In world practice, a parameter called NOAEL (No Observed Adverse Effect Level - concentration that does not cause harmful effects) is used. It sets the threshold concentration of substances for cardiosensitizing and cardiotoxic effects on the body. Sometimes this difference is called a safety margin, which compensates for inaccuracies in calculating the amount of gas agent in the system, uneven distribution throughout the volume of the room, the use of increasing factors for the calculated concentration and other factors. A negative value of this parameter indicates the danger of the agent in the working concentration after the system is activated.

Thus, systems using “inert” gases (which do not support combustion) use the principle of extinguishing fire by diluting oxygen in the air to values significantly lower than the level in normal air (12-13% versus 21% in normal air). This leads to a risk of suffocation for people in the room, although such gases do not have a toxic effect. Separately, it should be said about carbon dioxide, for which working concentrations are always fatal to humans. This is due to its physiological effect on the body at concentrations above 5% (for comparison, the standard fire extinguishing concentration for CO2 is 35%).

Chemical agents do not reduce the oxygen concentration in the room. Therefore, for them, the decisive safety factor for personnel is the safety factor discussed earlier. For premises where, due to operational reasons, people may be present, even for a short time, agents with a maximum safety margin should be selected.

About the environment

Now about the environmental component of fire extinguishing agents. Especially in the conditions of international integration and ratification on the territory of the Russian Federation of documents adopted by the world community. An example is Russia’s fulfillment of its obligations under the Montreal Protocol, which led to a ban on the production, import and use in our country of many gaseous fire extinguishing agents with ozone-depleting properties. Next in line is the reduction of emissions of agents with a high global warming potential, among which a large share is occupied by fire extinguishing halides.

Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol in Russia (Federal Law of November 4, 2004 N 128-FZ “On the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change”) also provides for a gradual reduction of such emissions.
In 2011, at the UN climate change conference, several countries took the initiative to introduce a ban on the use of freon-23 and a regime of strict control of consumption volumes and a gradual reduction in emissions of the main freons for firefighting (freon-125, freon-227, etc.). Such measures are vital, since otherwise it is simply impossible to keep the global warming process within the limits defined by scientists as moderately dangerous for the earth’s climate. The results of these initiatives were not long in coming: the countries of the European Union decided to be the first to introduce these new environmental safety measures. Currently, the corresponding amendments to EU legislation are being approved. Other participants in the international community are next in line, because the problem of global changes in the climate of our planet is common to all countries.

When Novec 1230 is released into the atmosphere, fluoroketones are easily destroyed in the upper layers of the atmosphere under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, the agent is removed from the environment within 5 days. There is also no cumulative effect characteristic of refrigerants, i.e. the substance does not persist in the atmosphere for decades or even centuries.

For comparison, the release of a gas fire extinguishing installation (GFE) based on freon (348 kg of freon 227) is equivalent to the emission of 1,008,926 kg of CO2 into the atmosphere, which is comparable to the annual CO2 emission from 211 passenger cars. The release of a fluoroketone-based gas turbine unit (401 kg Novec 1230) is equivalent to the emission of 401 kg CO2 (0.07 cars per year). It can also be compared to the carbon dioxide emissions from the life of one cow for one month.

That is why fluoroketone FK-5-1-12 (Novec 1230) was very quickly included in all international and regional standards for gas fire extinguishing, providing serious competition to the old class of agents - freons, for which many questions have accumulated, both from ecologists and fire protection specialists.

Where can I meet

When talking about the list of objects that can be protected from fire by such installations, it should be borne in mind that according to Russian and international certificates, installations with Novec 1230 fire extinguishing agent can extinguish fires of solid combustible materials, including paper archives without the access of firefighters, flammable liquids and live equipment. Thus, almost all tasks of protecting particularly valuable enterprise assets are covered.

Novec 1230 installation

The issue of certifying an agent for extinguishing class C fires (i.e., flammable gases) is currently being considered - the last possible option. In this case, the creation of special conditions for the equipment is not required - the installations can be operated at temperatures from minus 20°C to plus 50°C. These are the requirements for the location conditions of the cylinders themselves. In the room where the release is made, the temperature may differ significantly from the given values, both down and up. There are examples of the use of systems at sites in harsh climates, in which case the system modules are installed in a thermally insulated compartment.
To summarize the above, we can state that the final choice of a fire extinguishing agent depends on criteria that are important to each of us: efficiency and cost, compliance with regulatory and technical standards, safety for humans and the environment. It was these criteria that 3M scientists were guided by when creating fluoroketone Novec1230.

Every programmer's dream :)

We hope our story was interesting and informative. We wanted to introduce you to one of the company's key products on the Russian market.
You can find out more detailed information

Dry water is a substance that looks like water and flows like water. However, the substance is completely dry and does not wet the surface. But, unlike real water, Dry Water does not damage electronics, works of art, furniture and the like, since it is actually a dry substance. And the name of Dry Water Novets 1230.

Such water does not conduct electricity, instantly extinguishes fire, and equipment, paper, or any other object placed in such water will not get wet.

Watch the dry water presentation video:

To the question how to make dry water at home, the answer is simple:
Water and silicon are mixed at high speed, and after 90 seconds the dry water is ready.

In fact, the chemical formula of dry water is CF3CF2C(O)CF(CF3)2 (perfluoro(ethyl isopropyl ketone), a six-carbon substance, discharge fluorinated ketone.

On April 13, 2004, Florida-based Tyco Fire & Security demonstrated the capabilities of a "dry water" fire suppression system.

The new fire suppression system is branded ANSUL Sapphire (ANSUL is the company's line of firefighting equipment).

One of its features should be noted sensitivity - the system begins to extinguish the fire when the combustion reaction has just begun, and there is actually no flame yet.

This liquid has all the fire-fighting properties of water, and when poured (sprayed) onto a fire, it also effectively (if not better than “wet water”) suppresses the flame.

But unlike real water, the new “water” does not damage electronics, works of art, furniture and the like, since it is actually a dry substance.

More precisely, during the spraying process, the new substance turns into steam, and in the form of a liquid it waits in the wings in the cylinders of the automatic fire-fighting system, where it is stored under pressure.

In a recent demonstration on Good Morning America, books and electronic devices were immersed in a bowl of this liquid.

After the objects were removed, the liquid evaporated from them in a second, leaving absolutely no traces and without making any changes in the structure, for example, of paper.

Interestingly, the new liquid chemically interferes with the combustion reaction and suppresses it, while the water simply cools the fire and, evaporating, blocks the access of oxygen to the fire.

It is interesting to compare the physical properties of water and 3M Novec 1230. Their boiling points are 100 and 49 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The freezing temperature is zero and minus 108 degrees. Saturated vapor pressure at 25 degrees Celsius is 3.2 and 40.4 kilopascals for water and “dry water,” respectively.

The heat of vaporization is 2442 kilojoules per kilogram for water, and only 95 for the new substance.

Its secret is that it does not contain hydrogen atoms and therefore has no hydrogen chemical bonds.

The interaction between the molecules of the new liquid is much weaker than between water molecules, which in the latter case is determined precisely by hydrogen bonds.

This weak attraction between the molecules of “dry water” is what gives it such unique properties. They allow 3M Novec 1230 to quickly transition from a liquid to a gaseous state, even when spraying cold, when the fire has just started and there is no large flame (and high temperature) yet.

It should be noted that liquids with similar properties were known to chemists before. Why weren't they used in fire extinguishing systems?

The answer is simple - the precursors of “dry water” were toxic and dangerous to the ozone layer. The same cannot be said about the 3M Novec 1230.

By the way, the depository of the Staraya Derevnya Museum (State Hermitage) has already announced plans to install such a fire-fighting system with “dry water” by 2016.

Good afternoon, dear habra users! Have you heard about 3M?

Our first post is about Novec 1230 gas extinguishing agent, its history and applications.
A first-hand story from an employee.

Can water be dry? Or what is safe fire fighting?

Video

Novec 1230 is absolutely safe for electronics!

Why is this necessary?

How we came up with this

A bit of boring chemistry

Novec 1230 exiting the nozzle during fire fighting

How it works?

How does this affect a person?

About the environment

Where can I meet

Novec 1230 installation

Every programmer's dream :)

We hope our story was interesting and informative. We wanted to introduce you to one of the company's key products on the Russian market.
You can find out more detailed information

Dry water, known to many as Novek 1230, was discovered back in 1968. For a long time, this substance remained unclaimed. While all its properties are not yet fully used by people, they have been renewed in the 21st century. Research will allow more rational application of all benefits.

What does dry water consist of and how is it obtained?

Compound: includes carbon, fluorine and oxygen. It's hard to believe, but it's not actually a real liquid. This substance is a powder with unique properties.

This substance contains 95% plain water, but at the same time it looks like powdered sugar. Each particle of powder is covered with a unique shell consisting of silicon dioxide. The combination of oxygen and silicon molecules in this substance is very stable. Silicon dioxide prevents water droplets from spreading and joining together. The particles of this substance are very small. Their size does not exceed 1 micron.

What does it have to do with water? It has a lot in common with plain water. This substance is odorless and tasteless. In ordinary water, oxygen plays the role of an oxidizing agent. In dry water it is fluoride. Novek 1230 has a boiling point of 49 °C and a freezing point of 180 °C. Even boiling dry water does not leave burns on the human body. This substance has a high density. When exposed to ultraviolet rays, dry water disintegrates.

Harm to humans: dry water is considered harmless to people, but this does not mean that it should be drunk. This chemical compound is simply amazing. Videos on the Internet in which people dip documents, phones, laptops and even an extension cord plugged into dry water clearly demonstrate the unique properties of this substance.

How much does it cost to produce and how do you get it? The production of this chemical compound is a simple and short process. Water and silicon are mixed at high speed for 1.5 minutes, after which it is ready for use.

Scientists believe that this substance will very soon be used in almost all spheres of our life.

History of creation

This chemical was patented by American scientists back in 1968. It was initially used in the cosmetics industry. In 1993, when a substance such as freon 114 (refrigerant) was banned, the American company 3M, specializing in the development of automatic fire extinguishing systems, began searching for a substance that was safe for humans and the environment.

After 11 years of research, Novec 1230 was introduced to the public. It is called the cleanest gas. Safe for humans, equipment, documents, and the environment, it does its job flawlessly.

To fight global warming

Some researchers suggest that dry water could be a panacea in the fight against global warming. This idea arose due to its unique property of absorbing various gases. Since the greenhouse effect is associated with the release of various chemical compounds into the atmosphere, dry water can be used to absorb them.

Unfortunately, the technology has not yet been developed that would allow this idea to be put into practice.

Fire extinguishing process

Dry water is used in automatic fire extinguishing systems. During a fire, it has a fire extinguishing effect based on active heat absorption and cooling. This substance is simply irreplaceable when extinguishing equipment and paper, since it does not destroy them. Thus, Novek 1230 should be used as fire protection in offices, archives, museums, etc. It is also used in areas with large crowds of people, such as airports, train stations, theaters.

Benefits of dry water in fire fighting

rapid period of destruction in the environment (no more than 5 days);
safety for people;
quickly extinguish fires;
zero ozone depletion potential;
lack of corrosive properties;
saving space in the room;
non-conductivity;
absence of polluting components;
possibility of recharging fire extinguishing equipment on site.

Dry water storage

This substance is stored in an open container for no more than five days, since it is easily destroyed in the environment. Dry water must be kept in sealed special containers at low pressure. It is impossible to prepare such a substance at home.

It is well known that water can exist in liquid, solid and gaseous states. Did you know that water can also be dry, no matter how paradoxical it may sound?

“Dry water” consists of 95% water and consists of tiny droplets of water, each of which is enclosed in a shell of silicon dioxide, which prevents water molecules from spreading and combining. In appearance, “dry water” resembles powder. If we look at the chemical formula of dry water (CF3CF2C(O)CF(CF3)2), we will see that, unlike ordinary water, it lacks hydrogen and, as a consequence, hydrogen bonds, which means that the interaction between the molecules of this the water is much weaker. Other differences between dry water are its freezing point of 108°C, its boiling point of 49°C, and its inability to conduct current. You cannot brew tea or coffee in such water; sugar and salt do not dissolve in it. Among the similarities with ordinary water are the absence of color and odor.

“Dry water” was invented back in 1968, but at that time it did not find practical application and was forgotten for many years.

They remembered it only in 2004, when the ZM corporation improved “dry water” by removing the environmentally harmful refrigerant from it, and registered it under the Novec 1230 trademark. Since then, “dry water” began to be used in fire extinguishing, and quickly gained popularity, because it showed its advantages over ordinary water. So, even if a fire is quickly extinguished with ordinary water, documents, books, equipment, furniture and other things that survived the fire can be hopelessly damaged by this very water. This will not happen with “dry water”, since when extinguishing a fire it turns into steam, which, settling on objects, disappears after a few seconds without causing any harm to them. The presenters of one program even conducted a visual experiment, putting a mobile phone and a sheet of paper into a container of “dry water”, while the phone continued to work properly, and the paper did not even get wet. Such properties of “dry water” were primarily appreciated by employees of museums and libraries, as well as owners of enterprises where there is a large amount of high-voltage equipment.

“Dry water” even extinguishes the fire differently, interfering with the combustion reaction and absorbing heat, while ordinary water lowers the temperature at the source of the fire and, by evaporating, blocks the access of oxygen to the flame. In addition, Novec 1230 quickly turns into a gaseous state even at low temperatures when the fire has just started.

In addition, another advantage of “dry water” when extinguishing a fire is the fact that its use does not reduce the oxygen concentration in the room, thereby increasing the time for evacuating people.

Once in the atmosphere, Novec 1230 disintegrates under the influence of ultraviolet radiation in 3-5 days, without causing damage to the Earth's ozone layer. “Dry water” is also safe for humans, but it is still not worth drinking.

However, “dry water” can be used not only in fire extinguishing. In 2006, studying the properties of this substance, specialists from the University of Liverpool discovered that “dry water” can provide a great service to our planet. The fact is that it is capable of actively absorbing carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas that contributes to the destruction of the ozone layer and, as a result, global warming. Experiments have shown that over the same period of time, “dry water” absorbs three times more carbon dioxide than ordinary water. All this makes it possible to significantly reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

There are suggestions that, due to its ability to absorb gases, “dry water” can also help in the extraction of frozen methane located at the bottom of the oceans, as well as other hard-to-reach gases.

A search is also underway for a method that could secure fuel storage for hydrogen-powered vehicles.

In addition, one of the specialists at the University of Liverpool, Dr. Ben Carter, at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston, said that, among other things, “dry water” is a catalyst that accelerates the reaction between hydrogen and maleic acid, which results in the formation of succinic acid , widely used in the production of consumer goods. This eliminates the need to stir hydrogen and succinic acid, making the process more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

In addition, this technology can be used to create “dry” powder emulsions consisting of several liquids that do not mix with each other, for example, water and oil. These emulsions will help make the storage and transportation of potentially hazardous liquids safer.

Reference:
Fluoroketones are synthetic organic substances in which all hydrogen atoms are replaced by fluorine atoms firmly bound to the carbon lattice. Such properties make the substance inert in interaction with other molecules and an inhibitor of thermal reactions. Numerous laboratory studies and tests have shown that fluoroketones are effective fire extinguishing agents with a positive environmental and toxicological profile. It is a colorless transparent liquid with a faint odor, which is 1.6 times heavier than water. It is an effective dielectric with an electrical constant of 2.3, so electronic devices even immersed in “dry water” continue to operate. Since the boiling point of this substance at a pressure of 1 atm. is 49.2°C, it evaporates instantly, leaving no residue on the walls of the equipment.

Here's what ZM says:

In the search for a combination of parameters of efficiency and safety of fire extinguishing agents, several generations of them have changed over the past decades, from carbon dioxide and inert gases to freons. However, for the most part they have serious limitations on their use. As I mentioned earlier, carbon dioxide systems are deadly to humans, and first-generation refrigerants are banned all over the world due to their colossal negative impact on the atmosphere. And this is an important factor, because global warming is occurring at a record pace. For example, the glacier on Mount Kilimanjaro, which according to scientists was supposed to melt by 2015, melted already in 2005

A bit of boring chemistry

How does this affect a person?