Foam

[bcfdp12]

Hi All, I am brand new to this whole online forum thing, so please take it easy on me.....I am looking for some information on foam. If I take a pumper with 500 gallons of water and install a foam system, what does the water become if I have my concentratation set at 0.5% and 1.0%. Is there a quick formula or rule of thumb?

Thanks Keith

[NorcalMike]

Hi All, I am brand new to this whole online forum thing, so please take it easy on me.....I am looking for some information on foam. If I take a pumper with 500 gallons of water and install a foam system, what does the water become if I have my concentratation set at 0.5% and 1.0%. Is there a quick formula or rule of thumb?

Thanks Keith

Not really sure what you mean. The water becomes foam solutions. There is still only 500 gallons of water. Depending on aeration method you could bet more volume.

[KenNFD1219]

If you were running 1% then for every 99 gallons of water you would use 1 gallon of concentrate. You would use one 5 gallon pail of foam for each tank of water. Running .5% cuts the foam usage in half, i.e. 2.5 gallons of foam for one 500 gallon tank of water (corrected after posting).

The percentages for the foam mix depend on the type of foam and the application.

[bcfdp12]

I Thank you for your replies...I guess what I am looking for is how much more effective does the tank of water become, I understand that the 500 gallons is still only 500 gallons, but that 500 gallons is going to become more effective with foam @ 0.5% and even more effective @ 1.0%....How much more effective? can we say that the 500 gallons is as effective as 750 gallons or even 1000 gallons? I have heard people say that since they started to use foam, they have decreased the amount of water usage ie: what was a 1000 gallon fire they are now using 600 gallons.....What do you all think

[arff17]

Check out this site for information on Chemgaurd Foam
http://daguayo.com/foam.html

[fire0099881]

If you were running 1% then for every 99 gallons of water you would use 1 gallon of concentrate. You would use one 5 gallon pail of foam for each tank of water. Running .5% cuts the foam usage in half, i.e. 10 gallons of foam for one 500 gallon tank of water.

The percentages for the foam mix depend on the type of foam and the application.

ken I think you might have messed up your math there, it you run it at .5% shouldn't it be 2.5 gallons per 500 gallons of water?

[KenNFD1219]

ken I think you might have messed up your math there, it you run it at .5% shouldn't it be 2.5 gallons per 500 gallons of water?

Doh!

Time to recheck my tax forms, the refund might not be as big as I figured.

[JHR1985]

Chemguard foam is the best!!

But, regarding foam.... it all depends on how your going to use it. There are many many threads on foam and its uses and how to use it on these forums. Try searching for them. But, regarding the topic, 500 gallons in a tank would call for 5 gallons or one pail at a 1 percent solution or 2.5 gallons at a .5 percent solution.

But, if your using class a foam, you will hardly ever use it at 1% unless your laying a blanket or blanketing something. Even .5% is a little hefty.

For all the firefighting uses, .3% to .4% usually is the most economical way, unless your using a CAFS system. .1-.2% works but does not have the penetrating power at .3%. Normally, any higher is overkill for the basis of breaking down the surface tension

[LVFD301]

Hi All, I am brand new to this whole online forum thing, so please take it easy on me.....I am looking for some information on foam. If I take a pumper with 500 gallons of water and install a foam system, what does the water become if I have my concentratation set at 0.5% and 1.0%. Is there a quick formula or rule of thumb?

Thanks Keith

With .5%, and 500 gallons of water, the water becomes.... Wait for it...
Water!

All a basic foam system will do to your volume at .5%, would be to make 502.5 gallons of liquid.

The performance of a class A foam will reduce the waters surface tension, and make bubbles, making it a great penetrant into wood fuels. In a foam blanket, it absorbes heat, and allows the moisture to be incontact with the fuel better.

CAFS is an excellent way of forming that foam blanket. You can also use a automatic nozzle with an air aspirating attachment, which will give a good blanket also. CAFS also makes an excellent dry foam - like shaving cream, great for exposure protection.

Some like to say that using CAFS gives you more solution to put out a fire, in reality what it does is make your water much more effective - meaning less water will go much further.

http://forums.firehouse.com/showthread.php?t=88382

is a great thread on class B foam with CAFS, and using Class A foam instead.

Class B foam is a whole nother animal. What kind of foam, and in what kind of system were you asking about?

[t0asty]

I know I'm just an explorer but I remember that a bit back we were talking about foams and the new foam that we are trying. We right now carry AFFF which I don't know much about besides that it make a film that water sits on instead of sinking under the oil or fuel. Now we are trying a new (to us) product called NovaCool. (www.novacoolfire.com or something) From what I was told it works on A B and D fires, dose not jell and has a 10 year life span. And you use .4% for anything. I am not sure if it is true or just a marketing thing but it is said you can get steel red hot toss some novacool on it and touch the steal with your bare hand and not burn (not sure if it is true). O and it is supposedly biodegradable. That is all I know. Hope I did not screw up my facts to much. Oh it dose not make a film like AFFF. It is odd. Dont know much about how it works but that it exists ans what I have told you that was told to me. It was fun to play with though. kinda looks like snow.

[LVFD301]

Make you a deal. You grab that steel and let us know how that works.

Novacool is just another foam - that is biodegradable.

[KevinFFVFD]

aight, how about this......
our engines, and the one were about to get, have 1200 gallon tanks. we get large tanks since we are rural and plugs are not on every corner like some places. so how much foam would you use for a 1200 gallon tank??

[bcfdp12]

Thank you all for your knowledge....

[KenNFD1219]

It would depend on the desired concentration of the foam.

Multiply the gallons of water available by the concentration to get gallons of foam needed.

3% concentration and 1200 gallons of water=36 gallons of concentrate
.03 X 1200 = 36

[dday05]

To see the difference in foam vs water, do the little cardboard thing where you put some drops of water on a pc of cboard (about 4x4 or 2x2) and put some drops of your foam on the other pc of cboard. Have fun!

[JHR1985]

one of the more accurate ways calls up for taking what they call a skeen and using acurate measurements of like .3% and so on and seeing how long it takes for the skeen to sink in some water.

But, I would think that just taking a cotton ball and putting it in a beaker like object with a weight attached to keep it in the middle would work. When it the foam breaks the surface tension down, it would sink.

This is how I would go about it. Take a small metal weight and tie a string to it attaching it to a fish hook. Put the fish hook through the cotton. Now, get something that you can somewhat measure. A cylinder would be best but we all dont have one lying around. Hell, cut the top off a beer bottle and it would work.

Make up a concentraiton which will be hard to do but pour it in the beer bottle and time how long from the moment the cotton hits the water till it sinks. More foam, quicker the time.

Now, i'm not saying its gonna work... I just think it would. You can probably order skeen's online but I havent looked. It would be a good training demo if it worked.

I worked in a foam production lab for a bit so I know a little bit about testing the effectiveness of foam but by no means am I an expert

[jccrabby3084]

If I take a pumper with 500 gallons of water and install a foam system, what does the water become if I have my concentratation set at 0.5% and 1.0%.

Foam...
welcome to the forums