Experimental Study on the Effectiveness of Water Mist Containing Surfactant on Extinguishing Transformer Oil Fire

Abstract

Four kinds of water mist with different surfactants and pure water mist were added to extinguish transformer oil pool fire based on the self-built fire extinguishing test platform. The temperature change and flame shape of the fire were recorded in the process of extinguishing transformer oil pool fire. The fire extinguishing performance was compared, and the fire extinguishing mechanism was explored. Besides, the effectiveness of the water mist containing surfactant on transformer oil fire extinguishing was analyzed. The test results showed that the fire extinguishing performance of water mist was significantly improved by adding surfactant. This was because the surfactant could greatly reduce the surface tension of water, isolate oxygen, and emulsify transformer oil in the inhibition process. The water mist containing fluorocarbon surfactant had a better suppression effect on transformer oil pool fire than the water mist containing hydrocarbon surfactant. In particular, the fluorocarbon surfactant (F2) had the highest fire-fighting efficiency and the shortest fire-fighting time, which was only 7 s. This was due to the high electronegativity and low polarizability of the fluorocarbon chain in the surfactant. It had a high surface activity in the aqueous solution, leading to forming a stable water film, and insulating oxygen to suffocate fire flame.