Innovation In Fire Suppression Systems

Fires are as old as life itself, but humans learned to make fire quite later on in history. We took even more time to find out how to put it out. We have come a long way from splashing water to putting out a fire to covering it with a blanket and then developing fire suppression systems.

Here is how fire suppression systems have evolved:

· Fire Extinguisher

The oldest fire extinguisher is attributed to British Captain George William Manby. He invented the fire extinguisher in the 18th century to spray out 3 gallons of pearl ash to put out a fire. Later in 1923, the soda ash fire extinguisher was patented in the name of Kornél Szilvay, an officer in the Hungarian Fire Brigade.

Modern fire extinguishers have been classified from Type A to Type F based on the fire suppression substance.

· Sprinkler Systems

Sprinkler systems have been in use for the whole past century. They detect smoke and go off in a minute; they effectively suppress class A fires but are not good for grease fires. The water stream from the sprinklers might even cause damage to the equipment or furniture. Therefore, it is good for fire suppression but with strings attached.

· Water Mist System

Water Mist System is an advanced technology that uses tiny water droplets to produce a mist. The mist fights the fire, decreases the room's temperature, and washes the smoke.

It requires 80% less water than conventional sprinkler systems, so it does not require the space of a large tank for water supply.

Water Mist System can also be used with chemicals to spray foam to suppress class E fires that affect electrical equipment. Sprinkler systems would only put out class E fires at the cost of damaging the items. Water mist systems can be used with dry chemicals to put out fires of all kinds.

· Fire Extinguisher Ball

Fire extinguisher ball is an advancement of the fire extinguisher by making it a convenient product to use. While the fire extinguisher requires the user to learn how to use the product, the fire extinguisher ball can be used by anybody, even children.

The fire extinguisher ball has a dry chemical inside that can suppress fire quickly. The ball bursts when it comes into contact with flames, and the dry chemical spreads everywhere.

Fire extinguishers should be used where people are trained enough to use them. Also, a fire extinguisher cannot be used everywhere because people cannot always reach where fire erupts, especially if it is a confined space. For all these places, the best option is to go for Water Mist Systems because they effectively fight fires and help firefighters carry out their rescue operations with the smoke washed out of the area. The heat is also reduced significantly, so people don't get burned while evacuating or looking for trapped people to rescue.