Over twenty years ago, FireDos developed and established the proportioning concept consisting of a water motor and piston pump and with it the environmentally friendly and cost-effective testing of the proportioning rate, without the production of foam or premix.
Since then, we have delivered more than 15,000 units to municipalities and industrial customers around the world.
Keeping fire suppression in proportion
The system is purely mechanical and the proportioning rate can be tested without generating foam solution.
In 1979 the technology was initially developed and used in industrial dosing systems. In 1994, the first proportioners were used by fire departments. In the following year the proportioners were optimized for use for stationary fire protection. In 2013 FireDos made the decision to expand the product portfolio and a range for fire extinguishing monitors was developed. The focus was put on big flow volumes, extended reach, and remote control, but products for mechanical operation with small water flows are available.
For all our products, FireDos focusses on customer service including technical training and quick response to any industry inquiries. The products are certified by globally recognized institutions such as FM Approvals and are certified according to ISO 9001 (Quality Management System) and 140001 (Environmental Management System). All systems that leave the plant have been 100% tested over the entire operating range at FireDos’ own state-of-the-art test bench.
Proportioning systems
As what we notice, foam has proven to be the best medium to extinguish fluid fires. It consists of water, foam concentrate and air. The foam concentrate is mixed with the extinguishing water at a precisely defined rate. Air is then added to this premix to generate the foam.
NFPA 11, a standard written be the internationally recognized US National Fire Protection Association, describes various types of foam concentrate proportioning equipment. There are three technologies that are most commonly used: the bladder tank in combination with mainly venturi proportioners, the actuated proportioning pumps with flow meter and the water motor with proportioning pump.
While there are various differences, advantages and disadvantages for all technologies, tight limits for the proportioning of foam concentrate apply to all of them. The proportioning rate must not be less than the permitted values – i.e. 3% for a 3% foam concentrate or 6% for a 6% foam concentrate. The proportioning rate must not exceed 30% or an absolute maximum of 1% above the permitted value i.e., 3.9% for a 3% foam concentrate or 7.0% for a 6% foam concentrate. And to guarantee correct proportioning, the proportioner, including the proportioning rate, must be tested at least once per year and its correct functioning must be checked.
Keeping fire suppression in proportion
FireDos proportioners come with a built-in proportioning rate which makes them ultra reliable.
FireDos has decided to focus on water motors with proportioning pumps and has engineered a proportioning system specifically for firefighting foams. All other technologies are using pumps that have been designed for various liquids, mainly of low viscosity, but with the in-house developed and optimized water motor coupled with a piston pump specifically designed for foam concentrates, FireDos achieves the best results over a wide range of foam concentrate viscosities and operating ranges.
The operating ranges being system pressures and extinguishing water flow rates. In addition, the system is purely mechanical, and the proportioning rate can be tested without creating foam or premix. This is cost-effective and eco-friendly.
When selecting a proportioning system, FireDos advises to first decide what foam concentrate to use. Once this has been decided the suitable fire protection concept, including alternative scenarios, must be developed. Only then should the decision be made on which proportioning system is to be used.
Extinguishing monitors
Extinguishing systems typically consist of a fire pump, a proportioning system and tank for the foam concentrate, discharge devices such as foam nozzles, sprinklers, foam pipes or fire monitors and the corresponding piping. Firefighting monitors are discharge devices mounted stationary on pillars or towers or mobile on vehicles or trailers and available in many sizes. They are suitable to discharge water to extinguish regular class A (solid combustible materials) fires or foam, e.g., to extinguish flammable liquids such as a surface fire in an oil storage tank. The extinguishing agent flow rate can be over 13,000 GPM and the reach can be up to 600 feet if the pressure of the fire pumps is sufficient.
FireDos sees the main advantage of using firefighting monitors is their ability to deploy water or foam on a specific location as opposed to fixed extinguishing systems, such as sprinklers, that can only act in their immediate vicinity. In addition, monitors have far throwing ranges that allow the firefighting personnel to stay outside of danger zones.
The most important consideration is the question on what must be protected and what functionality is necessary to do this. The minimum and maximum water flow and the maximum required throwing range are important factors. For this the available maximum pressure of the fire pump, the pressure drop of the hose system and the pressure drop within the monitor is essential. That being said, FireDos is especially proud to have engineered their fire monitors using special hydrodynamic modelling that resulted in the innovative, flow-optimized ‘Oval Flat Design’ that ensures minimum pressure loss which in return guarantees maximum throwing ranges. In 2020, we installed our biggest proportioner, an FD25000, in a methanol plant in the U.S. There is also the option of supplying the proportioners and firefighting monitors for a mobile extinguishing system. In recent years, we have seen an increasing number of customers combining FireDos proportioners and firefighting monitors as well as an increase in the quantity of remote-controlled monitors coupled with heat detection systems.
Keeping fire suppression in proportion
FireDos offers proportioners of various sizes each with specific water flow rates to perfectly optimize any industrial fire protection system.
The early fire detection system allows the full-surface monitoring of large areas using panoramic thermal imaging. Combined with intelligent analyzing software, this enables the precise localization of a fire source. The remote-controlled FireDos monitors can then be automatically activated and used for pinpointed extinguishing of a hot spot using water or foam. This reduces the damage a fire can do and helps avoid lengthy and costly system downtime and collateral damage with little effort.
What’s next for fire protection?
FireDos is seeing a continued demand for quality extinguishing components and systems. The industry has seen a lot of fires in recent years that have sensitized the awareness for the need of functioning and reliable fire extinguishing technology. We are also seeing significant interest by recycling and waste management facilities towards modern technology.
In addition, the transition in a lot of countries from older, fluorine containing foam concentrates to new fluorine free and more environmentally friendly products has opened the door for rethinking the technology that has been used to date. Firefighting is essential for all industrial applications and we at FireDos anticipate seeing a continued demand for our technology.
To learn why FireDos Stationary Proportioners are a key component in industrial fire protection systems, please visit: firedos.com/products/proportioners-stationary
For general information about FireDos Proportioners please visit: www.firedos.com
