Abstract:

With the global energy scarcity, the exploration of process energy conservation method is of great significance. The fire fighting plays an important role in the national economy and social development. If the techniques of drag reduction by additives are applied to the firefighting system, the jet velocity and range of firefighting water can be directly increased without additional energy consumption, and consequently, the firefighting efficiency will be improved, and the power consumption of fire pumps will be reduced. According to the characteristics of fire water flow, polyethylene oxide （PEO）, octadecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride （OTAC） and sodium salicylate （NaSal） were chosen to be mixed as the drag reduction additives for the firefighting system. The drag reduction ability and surface tension of the mixed PEO/OTAC/NaSal solution were experimentally tested under different conditions. The results show that the PEO/OTAC/NaSal mixture is suitable for the firefighting system as the drag reduction additives, however, the PEO concentration must be controlled. Meanwhile, it is found that the drag reduction ability and surface tension of PEO/OTAC/NaSal solution mainly depend on the interactions between PEO and OTAC. Therefore, the mixture with strong interactions between polymer and surfactant molecules is more suitable for the firefighting system as drag reduction additives.

Key words: firefighting flow drag reduction, process energy conservation, mixed system of polymer and surfactant, drag reduction ability, surface tension