The One Seven® system in action
Published: 01 July, 2007
The merger of two German companies and three French ones has provided a technical springboard for this extremely efficient system, says Gimaex.
“What’s special about One Seven® is that it can be used as stationary extinguishing technology, on mobile units, fixed installations or retrofitted where you like,” comments a company spokesman to FIRE & RESCUE.
Continuess the spokesman: “One Seven® is a highly-efficient fire extinguishing medium using minimal volumes of water.
“It can be used to fight every type of fire. Manual application is easy; it increases the safety factor for firefighters. By using One Seven®, crews can be protected, lives saved, losses reduced and property can be guarded.”
The Gimaex One Seven® System is said to combine a specially-constructed system with a specially-developed foam concentrate.
“By adding the unique One Seven® foam concentrate and pressurised air to the water, the contents of one drop of water volume expands to form seven foam bubbles.
According to Gimaex, the expanded surface area provides a microcellular, homogenous foam structure with reproducible characteristics:
• Large Surface Area - strong cooling capability (~10°C/sec)
• High Energy Content - high velocity and deep penetration
• Adhesive properties - cools the fuel, not the flames
• Strong wetting capability - solution penetrates the fuel
“The One Seven® System has been specially developed for all applications, such as vehicle fires, house, apartment or room fires, forest and wildland fires and industrial fires,” says a Gimaex spokesman.
System advantages
One Seven® is said to significantly improve the safety of fire brigades thanks to its extremely fast cooling of steam and gases. For example, the temperature drop with One Seven® in a closed room is 10.3 °C per second while with water it is only 1.5 °C per second. Furthermore, the large throwing distance permits a safer fire attack while providing improved visibility thanks to a reduced area of smoke, says Gimaex.
A spokesman commented: “The slight surface tension and high penetrating capacity of the One Seven® medium produces a rapid and deep penetration into the fuel. This cools the interior of the fuel and prevents reignition.” According to Gimaex, the system ensures a high level of safety even when extinguishing fires in electrical installations. In contrast to water, the foam reduces the danger to a minimum. The ease of manual handling due to the lightweight hoseline is a further advantage that allows fire brigades more efficient firefighting operations.
The spokesman continues: “With the One Seven® One Button Touch, you can easily run the system without any complicate presetting and with minimum instruction. The design of the system guarantees a constant foam quality.”
How does it work?
The One Seven® foam bubbles vaporise during the heat absorption without the loss of the extinguishing agent. The One Seven® system provides an efficiency of more than 80% when it comes to extinguishing.
“With its low surface tension One Seven® can penetrate the fuel very deeply and is able to overcome the risks of reignition. There is no water damage with One Seven® and therefore no contaminated extinguishing water,” concludes the spokesman
