【Haichuan Chemical Accident Updates】Be cautious of fire hazards in summer! Fire breaks out at a plastic foam packaging company in Jiaxing
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【A five-story factory building in Jiaxing caught fire this noon】At around 12 p.m. today, a fire broke out at a plastic foam packaging company in Wangdian Town, Xiuzhou District, Jiaxing. The fire started in a five-story factory building with a steel-concrete structure; witnesses said that the flames originated on the second and third floors of the building. After arriving at the scene, firefighters used ladder trucks to rescue all 4 people who were trapped and bring them to safety. It is understood that the burning material was plastic foam; no deaths were caused by the fire, and as of 5 p.m., firefighting efforts at the scene were still ongoing.
Fire Hazards of Polyurethane Foam Plastics and Fire Protection Measures Source: Safety Management Network, June 24, 2019 Views: 641 【Abstract】By analyzing the fire hazards associated with polyurethane foam plastics and drawing on typical fire incidents, this article proposes technical and managerial fire safety measures to be adopted when using polyurethane foam plastics as insulation materials in freezer and refrigeration facilities, as well as in ventilation and air conditioning systems. 【Keywords】Polyurethane ； Fire hazard ； Fire management strategies: Polyurethane foam plastic is short for polyurethan resin foam plastic. Its thermal conductivity is only about 40% that of cork or polystyrene foam plastics, and it possesses sufficient strength, oil resistance, and adhesion properties, making it an excellent insulating material. It is widely used in medical bandages, industrial laboratories, building ventilation systems, air conditioning ducts, as well as in freezing and refrigeration facilities in the food industry as an insulating material. Rigid polyurethane foam plastic can also be used in the insulation structures of buildings. However, if not used with care, it can easily cause fire accidents. On April 22, 2000, a fire broke out in the broiler processing workshop of Fengxu Industrial Co., Ltd. in Qingzhou City, Shandong Province, resulting in a catastrophic accident that claimed 38 lives and injured 20 people. According to the investigations conducted by the public security fire department, the cause of the fire was overheating of the fluorescent lamp ballast, which led to the ignition of the polyurethane foam insulation material.
1 Fire properties of polyurethane foam plastics Polyurethane foam plastics are a type of foamed plastic produced by mixing polyether or polyester resins with isocyanates in specific proportions to induce foaming. The thermodynamic parameters of polyurethane foam plastics are not mentioned in many literature sources. 1.1 Test Data The test and analysis conducted by the Sichuan Fire Science Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security on polyurethane foam plastic extracted from a fire scene help us gain a thorough understanding of the fire hazard associated with polyurethane foam plastic. The combustion rate of the sample was tested using the horizontal combustion method. The dimensions of the specimen were 125 mm * 12 mm * 12 mm; a large amount of smoke was produced during combustion, along with curling. The burning length of the specimen exceeded 100 mm, and its combustion rate was 256 mm/min (according to GB2408-08). The oxygen index value of the test specimen was measured; the dimensions of the specimen were 150 mm*6 mm*6 mm, and the test result was 23.4. Thermogravimetric analysis was performed on the specimen at a temperature rise rate of 40°C/min, with an air flow rate of 40 ml/min, and the mass of the specimen was 2.4141 mg. The specimen lost about 1.6% of its weight before reaching 85°C (likely due to moisture absorption) ； Weight loss begins at 116°C, and by 398°C a total of 44.1% weight loss has occurred; the decomposition is intense during the range of 250–341°C ； It burns completely at 660°C, with no residue left.
Through the analysis of the above data, the following structure can be determined: The fire hazard of polyurethane foam plastics lies mainly in their poor thermal stability and strong flame propagation property; when heated, they tend to decompose into flammable volatile gases such as HCN, ethers, and esters, which can easily lead to fire accidents. Moreover, polyurethane foam has a very low ignition point (90 to 120) and burns extremely rapidly ； During the combustion process, droplet formation occurs, causing the fire to spread rapidly and making it difficult to extinguish.
On May 11, 1975, a spark caused by a wire short circuit in the equipment floor of Beijing Railway Station ignited the polyurethane foam insulation layer of the central air conditioning system. The large amount of toxic smoke generated by the fire spread rapidly through the ventilation ducts to the VIP waiting room, which was over 100 meters away. At that time, a friendly delegation led by Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was about to take a train to Dazhai in Shanxi Province for a visit, which had an adverse political impact.
On October 13, 2001, a massive fire broke out at the \"Sending Building Decoration Materials Market\" in Jilin City, Jilin Province, resulting in the complete destruction of a building covering 7,900 square meters. The goods owned by the businesses in the market were also destroyed, with direct economic losses amounting to nearly 5 million yuan, based on available records. The cause of the fire was welding, which ignited the polyurethane foam insulation layer inside the roof’s arch-shaped steel plates. The fire broke out at around 10:30 a.m. Due to its extremely rapid spread, it crossed two fire compartments within minutes and spread to the entire building. According to those on site, the molten polyurethane foam dripped down from the roof like raindrops. Before the fire alarm system could detect the fire and issue an alert, and before the automatic sprinkler system could be activated to put out the fire, it was already destroyed by the flames.