Performance improvement of palm oil foaming agent concentrates as fire extinguishment materials in peatlands

Abstract

Abstract Foaming agent concentrate made from palm oil produced as a fire extinguishing material in peatlands at a laboratory-scale test were able to extinguish a fire within 3.16 to 4.49 hours. Fire extinguishing ability of this foaming agent concentrate resulted in a lower solution use and shorter extinguishing time than water. However, when compared to commercial products, fire extinguishing time was still longer although the amount of solution needed to extinguish the fire was lower. Therefore, it was necessary to improve the formula to produce a foaming agent concentrate that was able to extinguish the fire in a shorter time with a lower amount of fire extinguishing solution. This study aims to improve the performance of palm oil foaming agent concentrate on extinguishing the fire in peatlands. Efforts to improve the performance were made by reformulation and the addition of chemical fire retardants. Results showed that the addition of fire retardant reduced foaming ability, increased surface tension, lowered viscosity, lowered contact angle, and reduced fire extinguishing time to about 13.08-69.21%.