During WP20-5381, ADA Technologies, Inc. (ADA) demonstrated fluorine-free (FF) suppression foam performance comparable to aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) on Class B fires up to 12.5 ft². The primary objectives of this one-year project are to scale-up in-house foam concentrate production, execute repeat Class B fire testing at ADA to validate foam performance, and perform 28 ft² fire testing at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) to assess ADA’s foam performance.

In the previous project (WP20-5381), ADA developed a number of successful FF firefighting foam formulations capable of extinguishing Class B fires on a small scale (1 ft² and 5 ft²). Testing was scaled up to 12.5 ft², and two formulations extinguished the gasoline fire in times comparable to AFFF. Due to the limited scope of WP20-5381, few repeat tests were performed on the larger scale tests. This one-year project is intended to demonstrate the repeatable performance of ADA’s FF foams on both the 12.5 ft² fires, as well as to scale further to the MIL-PRF-32725 28 ft² pan fire through testing at the NRL. In order to test at such scales, however, ADA will first scale-up in-house production of its concentrates to provide volumes necessary to perform such extensive testing. In addition to quantifying fire test data, ADA will also work with NRL to characterize the FF foams relative to the parameters outlined in MIL-PRF-32725, such as viscosity, spreading coefficient, and foamability. Aquatic toxicity of the foams will also be evaluated as part of the project. The project will culminate by performing a series of ten 28 ft² fire tests as a final screening test. An anticipated follow-on effort will be proposed to perform the full suite of MIL-PRF-32725 testing should the test suite proposed herein be successful.

Identifying fluorine-free firefighting foam formulations that meet MILSPEC requirements, would provide a viable, high-performance alternative to PFAS-containing AFFF. AFFF products are being phased out of use by the DoD and high performing, alternative formulations need to be developed to meet this need. 

(Project Completion-2024)