While procuring the right Commercial Fire Extinguisher for your business or property, you must first know the different types of fire extinguishers to be able to choose the right one that will address the kind of fires that might break out in your specific situation. Here is a short description of how different fire extinguishers work.
Water and foam extinguishers
These extinguishers work by taking away the heat element off the fire triangle. For instance, foam agents work by separating the oxygen element from the other elements present in a fire scenario. These extinguishers re meant for Class A fires only. They must never be deployed on Class B or Class C fires. Know that the stream discharged from these systems can in fact end up spreading the flammable liquid in class B fires and lead to a shock hazard in class C fires.
Carbon Dioxide extinguishers
Carbon Dioxide fire extinguishers put down the fire by the process of removing the oxygen and heat element from the fire triangle. This is achieved through a cold discharge. These extinguishers are highly effective on class B and Class C fires. They can never work well on class A fires.
Dry Chemical extinguishers
Dry Chemical fire extinguishers work by interrupting the chemical reaction of the fire triangle. Today you will find a number of multi-purpose dry chemical fire extinguishers that can work very well on class A, B and C fires and hence can be depended on for any types of fires. This type of extinguishers work by bringing about a barrier between the oxygen element and the fuel element on Class A fires. Also, know that the ordinary dry chemical extinguisher is mean only for class A and class B fires only. Hence it is important to use the right type of fire extinguisher depending on the type of fire. If this is done rather carelessly, the fire can always re-ignite after being temporarily extinguished.
Wet Chemical extinguishers
Wet Chemical is a new type of fire fighting agent that can put off the fire by removing the heat of the fire triangle and preventing the re-ignition by producing a barrier between the fuel and oxygen elements. Wet chemical of Class K extinguishers are meant to address the high efficiency deep fat fryers installed in commercial cooking setups. They can also be used on class A fires breaking out in today’s commercial kitchens.
Dry Powder extinguishers
Dry Powder extinguishers work in a similar way like dry chemical extinguishers except the fact that they extinguish the fire by delinking the contact between the fuel and the oxygen element or else by taking away the heat element off the fire triangle. These fire extinguishers can work only with class D or combustible metal fires only. They can never work well on other types of fires.
Water Mist extinguishers
Water Mist extinguishers have been developed recently for extinguishing fires by the process of taking away the heat element off the fire triangle. These systems are an alternative to the clean agent extinguishers where contamination is a matter of concern.
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