Foam Systems

Low and Medium Expansion Foam Systems

These systems perform in a similar way to a combination of inert gas and halo carbon systems by excluding the oxygen source and reducing the heat of the fire. This makes foam systems suitable for liquid pool fires, but, conversely, they are not effective for dealing with running or spray fires. However, the appropriate foam compound must be used for the particular hazard being dealt with as the chemical reaction with some liquid fuels destroy the blanket formed by the foam. Similarly, as the foams are mainly aqueous solutions, they should not be used to protect against anything that would react violently with water.

High Expansion Foam Systems

These systems work primarily by smothering the fire. However this gives a risk of poor visibility and suffocation in occupied areas.

Typical applications for foam systems are:

• Warehouses
• Document stores
• Computer room floor voids
• Cable Tunnels
• Engine Compartments
• Libraries
• Shipboard machinery spaces
• Flammable Liquid Hazards