Experimental Study on Fire-Extinguishing of Lithium

Fire-extinguishing behavior of four fire extinguishants, dry sand, pearlite, Natrex-L and Natrex-M on burning lithium was examined. Temperature and flame increase in chemical reaction between lithium and silicon, which is the major element in the fire extinguishants, were observed for dry sand and pearlite. For Natrex-L, temperature increase was not observed visually, although flame was slightly increased when it was applied to the burning lithium. The effect of lithium pool depth on the fire-extinguishing performance of Natrex-L was investigated on the definite area of the lithium combustion surface because the density of Natrex-L was larger than that of liquid lithium. It was found that the amount (thickness) of fire extinguishant necessary for fire-extinguishing increased as the depth increased. In this experimental condition (combustion area: 270cm², lithium depth: 1–2cm), the minimum thickness of the fire extinguishant was 1.5 times the depth of the lithium pool.