Fire extinguisher options offered at expo<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A fire engulfed a two-by-three-meter room in front of a
\nconvention center in Jakarta for almost two minutes before an
\nexplosion was heard from within the room. Strangely, the fire
\nquickly died down seconds after the explosion, leaving nothing
\nbut thin, white smoke.<\/p>\n
The scene was witnessed on Wednesday in a simulation conducted
\nby a Japanese company that produces a state-of-the-art fire
\nextinguisher named \"Bonpet\".<\/p>\n
\"Bonpet\" is one among a variety of fire safety products
\noffered for public use in a fire safety industrial exhibition at
\nthe Jakarta Convention Center in Senayan, Central Jakarta, from
\nTuesday to Thursday.<\/p>\n
The patent holder of the product, Hiromitsu Niizuma, said that
\nin the event that a fire broke out in a room and the temperature
\ninside the room rose, the bottle of Bonpet chemical substance
\nplaced inside would explode. The released chemical substance
\nwould then kill the fire.<\/p>\n
He said that the fire extinguisher would automatically be
\nactivated when the air temperature surrounding \"Bonpet\" heated to
\nabove 400 degrees Celsius.<\/p>\n
The sole agent of Bonpet in Indonesia, Muhammad Sohid, added
\nthat given the effectiveness of the substance, a number of major
\nstate institutions had chosen it to augment their fire safety
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
\"The Indonesian Army and Navy, a number of airports, and
\nnational currency printer PT Peruri are among those who use our
\nproducts,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bonpet, priced at Rp 1.5 million (US$168), is also recommended
\nfor household use.<\/p>\n
For those who are in need of an environmentally and human-
\nfriendly fire extinguisher, the preferred choice would be a
\nchemical substance called Inergen.<\/p>\n
Effective in extinguishing fires, Inergen is also
\nenvironmentally friendly, as it is composed entirely of natural
\ngases -- nitrogen, argon and carbon dioxide -- that are found in
\nthe earth's atmosphere.<\/p>\n
Most fire extinguishers available on the market make use of a
\nsubstance called halon. This substance is similar to
\ncholorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that is known to contribute to the
\ndepletion of the ozone layer.<\/p>\n
Effendy Tantoso, an engineer from the company developing
\nInergen, PT ODG Worldmad Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post that
\nthe product extinguished fires by removing oxygen from the air.<\/p>\n
He added that despite the low level of oxygen, people would
\nnot suffocate because Inergen interacted well with the human
\nbody.<\/p>\n
\"The level of carbon dioxide in the substance stimulates the
\nrate of respiration and increases the efficiency of the body's
\nuse of oxygen,\" he said, and that it was safe for humans.<\/p>\n
In a simulation observed by the Post, the substance was pumped
\ninto a glass chamber until the flame of a candle died out --
\nshowing that there was not enough oxygen to keep the flame alit
\n-- but a man who was inside the chamber was breathing normally.<\/p>\n
Inergen, developed in the U.S., offers another advantage. It
\ndoes not produce fog the way other extinguishing agents do, so
\nwhen a fire breaks out, escape routes will remain visible,
\npointed out a leaflet from its developer.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fire-extinguisher-options-offered-at-expo-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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