Characterization of long term retardants

Abstract

Retardants are additives that once added to the water, the mix retards the fire spread by reducing the fuel flammability. There are two types of retardant, the so-called short term and long term. The difference among them is that short-term retardants are only effective when water is still there, while long-term retardants are effective even if water is evaporated. The long-term retardants, retardants since now on and the base product for the presentation, modify the combustion process of the fuel, leading to a char formation instead of flammable gasses emission when it is submitted to pyrolysis. This particular aspect is well explained in the paper detailing the chemical reactions involved in the FR mechanism, such as here below case for the char formation mechanism to prevent flammable gases emission and avoid flame spread.