An innovative tunnel fire protection system

An automatically operated fire suppression system for protection against road and rail tunnel fires, and fires in enclosed or underground spaces is described. The Indoor Protection System (IPS) does not employ water mist, it controls and suppresses fire by using a special additive - T-AFFF (Tunnel AFFF) foam. T-AFF is a film-forming foam, based on fluoro-surfactanct and suitable for Class B fires. In the presence of special wetting additives for enhancing its effectiveness it is suitable for Class A fires. The paper shows the results of tests in order to demonstrate that IPS System is able to: limit the growth phase of the fire, extinguish and prevent re-flashing pool fires, provide a restriction of the fire source, obtain an active protection for structures and equipments, mitigate and control a fire event generated by solid materials, and extinguish fires of flammable or combustible liquids. (A)