Experimental Study of Suppressing Vertical PS Fires Using Water Spray

Water suppression experiments of EPS and XPS are conducted in Standard Combustion Chamber in USTC in Hefei. The 20 cm * 20 cm PSs were held against a 600 mm*600 mm vertical gypsum board fixed by a steel frame structures to simulate a building facade. A series of results have been obtained. When the water spray is not applied, the EPS is easier to melt, drip and pyrolyze than XPS under the same fire load, but causes less amount of CO than the amount of XPS without any water application. When the water is applied, neither EPS nor XPS has a trend to drip. The amount of CO caused by EPS or XPS under water spray is much less than that of non-spray. Also the extinguishment time falls fast once the PS materials are applied with water. In addition, these experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the designed rig in studying the fire suppression on vertical PS materials using water spray.