Dubai-based Naffco, a leading manufacturer of firefighting equipment, fire protection systems and safety solutions, has launched a new fire-fighting ‘Green foam’ which is called C6-based foam concentrates.

This C-6 based foam has been tested and approved by UL 162 standards and it also complies with the standards of the US EPA PFOA Stewardship Programme, said a statement from the company.

This product reinforces Naffco’s commitment towards environment and sustainable living, it said.

Generally firefighting equipment uses firefighting foam, which are chemical products that are designed for the suppression of fire on Class-B flammable liquid fuel fires. When foam concentrates are properly mixed with water and applied to fuel fires through suitable foam equipment, they produce a film formation of foam (bubbles) on top of the fuel surface that smother and extinguish the fire, it added.

One of the most important ingredients of the firefighting foam concentrates, like Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF), is fluorinated surfactants (or fluorosurfactants). These fluorosurfactants produce the film needed to effectively extinguish the flammable liquid fires. The fluorosurfactants are produced from fluoro chemicals which are manufactured by two different processes with different chemical structures. The two processes are: Electrochemical Fluorination and Telomerization, it stated.

Nowadays, mostly foam concentrates in the market contain fluorosurfactants produced through Telomerization but the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has indicated that long-chain per fluorinated chemicals containing eight carbons or more (C8, C10, C12), can breakdown in the environment into perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) which is toxic.

According to the EPA, the existing data shows that the shorter chain fluorosurfactants with carbon chain length of C6 and below have a lower potential for toxicity and bioaccumulation, which is environmentally friendly. In 2006, The US EPA PFOA Stewardship programme was launched in order to reduce the extent of chemicals and to render them harmless, said the statement.

In compliance with this, firefighting foam concentrates are reformulated and used as a raw material from carbon chain length C6 fluorosurfactants. Naffco has reformulated its foam concentrate and used C6-based fluorosurfactants that complies with the standards of the US EPA PFOA Stewardship Programme, it added.

Speaking about the new development, Eng Khalid Al Khatib, CEO, Naffco, said: “We are very happy to bring this breakthrough advancement in firefighting technology. There is a very significant need to create environmental friendly products that serve their core obligations without affecting the environment adversely.”

“Climate change and environmental pollution are real concerns that need to be addressed. The development of this technology therefore, has come at the right time. We hope more institutions adopt environmentally conscious tools in their fire-fighting and safety programs,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service