Page 92 - Impiantistica Italiana

surroundings, by excluding oxygen from the flam-
mable vapours, reducing the rate of gas vapours
cloud and, subsequently, flash fire or vapour cloud
explosion.
In particular, when dealing with hydrocarbon pro-
ducts or flammable liquids, foam can be the most
appropriate solution.
Several foam concentrates have been developed
over the years, each with particular features.
On the market there are several foam concentrates
that can be according to their nature and they can
be chosen according to the type of fire risk to pro-
tect, such as the following ones:
• Alcohol-Resistant (AR): as AFFF/AR and
FFFP/AR Local control panel (suitable to operate 2 RCM)
• Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF)
• Synthetic foam (S)
• Film-Forming Fluoroprotein Foam (FFFP) guishing a fire coming from liquefied gas (LNG or
• Fluoroprotein foam (FP) LPG), while dry chemical powder is the most effec-
tive means for fire suppression, while water can be
However, foam concentrates can also be selected a suitable agent for a cooling effect on gas fires.
according to the expansion ratio (3% or/to 6%),
that can be chosen according to the way the sys-
tem has been designed: a 3% concentrate has a A major step forward in the
double concentration than a 6%, therefore it re- world of fire fighting
quires half the product to produce the same end
result. Otherwise, it grants a double autonomy of Technological developments in built-in fire pro-
the foam system. tection measures are becoming familiar, with new
Also foam is not the most suitable agent for extin- extinguishing equipment and methods and alter-
native methodologies to emergency awareness.
The development of new products of buildings and
relevant contents are creating changing and more
challenging fire scenarios nowadays.
This has an effect on fire fighter tactics, protective
clothing and equipment, tenability conditions, and
it challenges some basic assumptions in the de-
sign of buildings for fire.
The resources that are available on site should be
such to run an effective initial response to the fire in
order to avoid possible uncontrolled catastrophic
situations.
The increasing number of fires becoming much lar-
ger due to the late arrival of fire team and/or due to
the complicated and inaccessible structures built
today suggests the use of remote-controlled moni-
tor systems (RCM), particularly recommended for
fixed installations.
Fixed monitors may be of course manually ope-
rated, but they may be also designed in order to
be remotely controlled by means of one or more
remote control stations placed in a strategic area
that allows a safe operation.
The fire team who is advancing to the fire can ra-
pidly and safely intervene thanks to the help of re-
mote-controlled monitors, that attack and control
large fires from a relatively safe distance, such as
from the control rooms placed in a safe area and/
or from other auxiliary control points.
Remote controlled monitors can be stand alone or
Remote controlled monitors on towers they can be part of a monitor network with multiple

90 Impiantistica Italiana - Luglio-Agosto 2017