JP2012139513A - Fire extinguishing agent and fire extinguisher - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fire extinguishing agent and a fire extinguisher which can exert a highest fire extinguishing effect within a wide service temperature range and which are suitable for extinguishing a clean room fire.SOLUTION: The fire extinguishing agent is composed of 80-98 wt.% of pure water and 20-2 wt.% of isopropyl alcohol. The fire extinguisher is filled with such fire extinguishing agent.

Description

  The present invention relates to a fire extinguisher and a fire extinguisher suitable for extinguishing a fire in a clean room.

  Conventional fire extinguishers installed in semiconductor bio-related factories and research institutes include powder fire extinguishers, foam fire extinguishers, and carbon dioxide gas fire extinguishers. Powder fire extinguishers and foam fire extinguishers are designed to extinguish fire by blocking the supply of oxygen necessary for combustion by adhering to the combustibles. It took a tremendous amount of time and money to recover by washing, and there was a problem in the processing after use in a clean room. A carbon dioxide gas fire extinguisher extinguishes fire by covering the combustion products with carbon dioxide and shutting off the supply of oxygen. Although the clean room does not contaminate the fire extinguishing operation, it does not contaminate in a vertical laminar flow environment. There was a problem in the fire extinguishing effect in the clean room because the carbon gas moved under the floor and could not fully exert the fire extinguishing ability.

  In order to solve this problem, the applicant has proposed a fire extinguisher made of pure water (see Patent Document 1). Since this fire extinguisher is pure water, it does not contain impurities, ions, etc., so there is no fire extinguishing, contamination by brine, corrosion, etc., no scale remains after drying, and because it is pure water, it has electrical insulation. Therefore, even if the water is discharged directly to electrical facilities, it is safe without worrying about conduction.

This fire extinguisher can perform normally in the operating temperature range of zero to 40 degrees as defined in Article 10-2 of the Ministerial Ordinance (see Non-Patent Document 1) that defines the technical standards of fire extinguishers. And must not cause crystal precipitation as stipulated in Article 1-2 of Paragraph 2 of the Ministerial Ordinance (see Non-Patent Document 2) that establishes technical standards for fire extinguishers for fire extinguishers Naturally, it is not used only in pure water (freezing point of about 0.8 ° C in ion-exchanged water), and infiltrant according to Article 8 It is used by adding anti-freezing agents and other chemicals for improving the performance or improving the properties of fire-extinguishing agents (also referred to as “wetting agents”) to pure water. About this point, the fire extinguisher which improved the fire extinguishing effect by adding glycol of antifreeze to pure water is proposed (refer patent document 2). However, the addition of glycols to pure water is still insufficient, although the fire-extinguishing effect is improved compared to pure water alone, and a large amount of glycols is required for use in cold regions.
JP 2000-93546 A JP 2004-113319 A Ministerial ordinance that sets out technical standards for fire extinguishers Ministerial Ordinance for Establishing Technical Standards for Fire Extinguishers Detailed rules for fire extinguishing agents

  The present invention was devised in view of the current state of the prior art, and its purpose is extinguishing suitable for extinguishing a clean room fire capable of exhibiting the highest extinguishing effect in a wide temperature range including the operating temperature range specified by the Ministerial Ordinance. It is to provide an agent and a fire extinguisher.

  As a result of intensive studies on the most suitable infiltrant and the like to be added to pure water in order to achieve such an object, the present inventor exhibits the highest fire-extinguishing effect in a wide use temperature range with a small amount of alcohol used. As a result, the present invention has been completed.

  That is, the present invention is a fire extinguishing agent comprising 80 to 98% by weight of pure water and 20 to 2% by weight of alcohol. Moreover, this invention is a fire extinguisher characterized by being filled with the said fire extinguisher.

  According to the fire extinguisher and fire extinguisher of the present invention, since a specific amount of alcohol is added to pure water, it can be suitably used for a fire in a clean room while exhibiting the highest fire extinguishing effect in a wide use temperature range. it can.

  The fire extinguisher of this invention is comprised from 80 to 98 weight% pure water and 20 to 2 weight% alcohol. The pure water used in the present invention refers to water having a high electrical resistivity and a small content of impurities (particles), and examples thereof include ion exchange water, distilled water, and reverse osmosis water depending on the production method. The impurity concentration of pure water is preferably as close to zero as possible. However, since the impurity concentration increases when stored in a container or the like for a long period of time, the fire extinguisher may be connected to a pure water producing machine. In any case, since the concentration of impurities in the pure water is extremely low as compared with the conventional fire extinguishing agent, the use of pure water as a fire extinguishing agent prevents contamination and corrosion during fire extinguishing in a clean room. Moreover, it is preferable that the electrical resistivity of pure water is 0.2 MΩ · m or more in a circuit of 200 V or less. By using pure water having a high electrical resistivity as described above, quick initial fire extinguishing can be achieved without any risk of damage to the electric circuit or risk of electric shock even if the electric circuit is discharged in the energized state.

  The alcohol used in the present invention preferably has a purity of 99% or more. As alcohol, ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, or the like can be used. For example, since ethanol has a freezing point of -114.5 ° C and a boiling point of 78.325 ° C, it can be effectively used in a wide operating temperature range as a fire extinguisher when mixed with pure water. Alcohol is mixed at a ratio of 20 to 2 parts by weight with respect to 80 to 98 parts by weight of pure water. The fire extinguisher of the present invention is basically composed of water and alcohol, but the infiltrant in Article 8 of the Detailed Examination Rules for Fire Extinguishers for Fire Extinguishers by the Japan Fire Fighting Association is appropriately selected as long as it does not interfere with fire extinguishing in clean rooms Then, a trace amount can be added.

  The present invention also includes a fire extinguisher filled with a fire extinguisher as described above. The portion of the fire extinguisher that is filled with pure water is preferably composed of a material that does not easily dissolve impurities, such as titanium, stainless steel, or polyether ether ketone (PEEK). Moreover, the fire extinguisher may include a pure water production machine, or may be connected to a separate pure water production machine. In any case, in the present invention, the conventionally proposed fire extinguisher and fire extinguishing equipment using pure water can be adopted as appropriate, and the details thereof are well known to those skilled in the art and will not be described here.

  In order to demonstrate the effect of the fire extinguishing agent of the present invention, examples and comparative examples will be described below.

  Extinguishing agents of Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 were produced according to the composition shown in Table 1. In addition, ion-exchange water (electrical specific resistance 0.35 MΩ · m) was used as pure water, and ethyl alcohol, propylene glycol, and hexyl glycol had a purity of 99.5% or more. The fire extinguishing agent contained a trace amount (about 0.05% by weight) of a pH stabilizer and a rust inhibitor.

  The fire extinguishing performance of the fire extinguisher is evaluated by a test method according to the “Ministerial Ordinance stipulated in the technical standards for fire extinguishers”. The A-1 fire extinguishing model was extinguished by spraying. The evaluation results are also shown in Table 1.

１：消火後４分経過後も再燃しない
２：消火後２分経過後に再燃
３：消火後２分経過前に再燃
４：消火されず燃焼継続

1: Does not relapse even after 4 minutes have passed since extinguishing 2: Relapses after 2 minutes have passed since extinguishing 3: Reburns before 2 minutes have passed since extinguishing 4: Continues burning without being extinguished

  As can be seen from Table 1, the fire extinguishing agent of the present invention has a clearly higher fire extinguishing effect than pure water alone or when glycols are added to pure water. In addition, the fire extinguishing effect is maintained even when the amount of ethyl alcohol is changed as shown in the above table with respect to pure water. It is. In addition, although the fire extinguisher of Example 2 was able to be sufficiently used even at -3 ° C, the fire extinguishing agents of Comparative Examples 1 to 3 were all unusable because crystals were precipitated at -3 ° C.

  According to the fire extinguisher and fire extinguisher of the present invention, since a high fire extinguishing effect can be exhibited in a wide use temperature range while using pure water as a base, it is extremely useful for fire extinguishing in industries using clean rooms.

Claims (2)

  A fire extinguishing agent comprising 80 to 98% by weight of pure water and 20 to 2% by weight of isopropyl alcohol.   A fire extinguisher filled with the fire extinguisher according to claim 1.