Fired up over foam Officials say biodiesel plant's fire ...

Fired up over foam Officials say biodiesel plant's fire ...
Kalamazoo Gazette - Kalamazoo,MI,USA
BANGOR -- When the Michigan Biodiesel plant opens here late next month, it will be the first facility in Southwest Michigan to be fitted with a foam-dispensing ...

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BANGOR -- When the Michigan Biodiesel plant opens here late next month, it will be the first facility in Southwest Michigan to be fitted with a foam-dispensing fire-protection system.

The technique was demonstrated Tuesday before a group of about 100 people, including fire department personnel from a half dozen agencies, insurance-company representatives and Michigan Biodiesel officials.

Bangor Community Fire Chief Derek Babcock said the demonstration was the first time any area firefighter has seen the foam-dispensing system.

``The use of foam (as a fire-control measure) is a concept that has been around for a long time, but it's a fire-protection system you just never really get a chance to see,'' he said. ``Nobody around here has it.''

The demonstration centered on one of the building's four overhead systems inside the production area of the Michigan Biodiesel plant. The system spewed enough high-expansion foam concentrate to fill a 20-foot-high, cordoned-off 20-by-30-foot corner area, in less than 90 seconds.

When Babcock opened an overhead door, a sea of fluffy, light-as-air foam gushed from the building.

The foam, created by a precise mixture of 97.25 percent water and 2.75 percent concentrate, is identical in consistency to the bubbles formed in a kitchen sink by everyday dish soap.

Babcock said the Michigan Biodiesel plant will eventually have six of the overhead dispensing units, ensuring the 10,000-square-foot operating area would be filled to the ceiling with foam in about three minutes.

The system is an alternative to the traditional sprinkler-head, water-dispensing method of fire protection.

John Oakley, chairman of the Eaton Rapids-based Michigan Biodiesel Board of Managers, said the additional $40,000 expense to install the foam system is money well spent, increasing the safety of the company's employees and earning a break on the plant's insurance premiums.

Oakley said he wasn't aware of another biodiesel-production plant in the country that uses the foam-dispensing fire-control system.

Harold Hladky, a Western Michigan University chemical engineer, said he was impressed with the demonstration of the foam system.

``Michigan Biodiesel will use a steady amount of methanol at its plant, and methanol is very, very flammable,'' he said. ``It easily vaporizes and is heavier than air. ... It's real nasty stuff.''

A methanol-induced fire, he said, has the potential to generate a catastrophic explosion.

``A traditional sprinkler system needs a great amount of water pressure to be effective,'' Hladky said. ``Water, generated from even the greatest amount of pressure possible, though, would not be as effective in controlling a fire as the high-expansion foam concentrate.''

Fire personnel from Bangor, South Haven, Paw Paw, Covert, Lawrence and Hartford were on hand to witness Tuesday's demonstration.

The foam concentrate is sold under the name Jet-X and is manufactured by a Marinette, Wis., company called Ansul Inc.

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