Review on additives for new clean fire suppressants

The heptafluoropropane and water mist fire suppression systems (WMFSS) are two well-known new clean fire suppression systems. However, there might be shortcomings in applying these systems. Using additives for the new fire suppressants might give better agents in certain fires. In this paper, the extinguishing mechanisms of heptafluoropropane will be reviewed first. Additives and possible mechanisms to reduce the production of the toxic gas hydrogen fluoride (HF) will then be discussed. Combining the water spray cooling system with heptafluoropropane in the fire extinguishment system to produce less HF is proposed. Additives are used in some WMFSS through chemical mechanism. Reviewing such chemical mechanisms will give some insight on how to get proper additives. The effect of additives on the water droplet vaporization and generation processes related to the behavior of water mist with additive in certain fires will also be reviewed. The criteria to define better where the search for additives is most likely to be successful are made in the conclusions.