Full-scale tests of class B fire suppression by water mist

A series of full-scale fire suppression tests were conducted according to the testing protocol of IMO.In these tests the local application water mist fire suppression systems were used,and the parameters such as ventilation conditions,preburn time,orientation of spray ejection and heat release rate of fires were changed to examine their influence on the effectiveness of water mist fire suppression.The results of the tests show that water mist fire protection systems can extinguish designed pool fires and spray fires effectively,and under ventilation conditions can perform superior to gas agent fire suppression systems.The discharge of the water mist also can cool the compartment effectively,reduce the concentration of CO and CO_2.In pool fire suppression tests it was observed that the fire extinguishment by flame cooling took a very short time,while extinguishment by surface cooling took a longer time.And it is also found that side ejection can enhance the performance of water mist fire protection systems.For spray fire suppression it is found that longer preburn time shortens extinguishing time.