- Author
-
Friedman, R.
|
Levy, J. B.
- Title
- Mechanism of Fire Extinguishment by Alkali Metal Salts. Technical Report No. 1. Final Report.
- Coporate
- Atlantic Research Corp., Alexandria, VA
- Report
-
Final Report
July 31, 1961
28 p.
- Contract
- NBS-CST-368
- Keywords
-
flame research
|
alkali metal salts
|
alkali metal salts
|
hydrocarbons
|
flame extinguishment
- Abstract
- This report describes the first year of research on this project. The objective is to study the mechanism of the inhibition of hydrocarbon-air flames by alkali-metal salts. The approach to this problem involves study of the combustion of simple hydrocarbons such as methane to which known concentrations of alkali-metal salts or the metals themselves in the vapor state have been added. Since the system will thus be homogeneous, any inhibition that occurs should be much simpler to interpret than is the case for the known inhibition of such flames by solid alkaline-metal salts. In addition, the results found here should help elucidate the nature of the dry salt inhibition. To date, apparatus has been constructed permitting the preheating of methane plus various additives to 500 deg. C (932 deg. F), with subsequent combustion as either a laminar premixed flame or laminar diffusion foame. Preliminary experiments have been performed with flames involving methane, hydrogen, air, oxygen, sodium amide, elemental sodium, and elemental potassium. Due to a multitude of experimental problems, described in this report, definitive experiments have not yet been carried out, except for the result that 0.26 atom per cent elemental sodium in methane is insufficient to produce a detectable effect on a methane-air diffusion flame. It is anticipated that another year of research with this apparatus would permit ovecoming experimental problems and performing conclusive experiments.