The present application provides compositions comprising (a) at least one lignin; and (b) at least one polymeric thickening agent. Mixture of said compositions with water or an aqueous solution provides fire suppressing and/or fire-retarding hydrogels. Also provided are hydrogels prepared from the compositions, and methods of using the hydrogels to extinguish, suppress and/or prevent fires.

A backpack material dispenser that includes a pumpless pressure tank for storing and discharging a material under pressure contained in the pressure tank and a hose and a shut off valve connected to an output opening of the pressure tank for allowing flow of the material from the pressure tank under pressure and through a nozzle communicating with a discharge end of the hose. A discharge valve communicates with the nozzle proximate the hose for allowing controlled discharge of the material from the nozzle. A backpack assembly mounts the pressure tank for being carried by a user. A charging tank contains a gas under pressure to charge the pressure tank to a predetermined pressure, and a releasable connector of the charging tank attaches to a complementary connector of the pressure tank for charging the pressure tank with the gas under pressure to the suitable pressure tank pressure.

The present specification discloses nontoxic fire extinguishing agent compositions, devices, methods and uses of same that are safe for both users and the environment. In particular examples, the nontoxic fire extinguishing agent comprises a microbial supernatant.

A dispensing unit that consists of two or more dispensing solutions, at least one being a fluorine-free foam solution, and at least one hydrogel-based solution, and which involves the dispensing of each solution through one or more compressed air foam system (CAFS), where the CAFS may use compressed air, nitrogen, or other inert gas. The individual solutions may be mixed prior to the CAFS, or one or more solutions mixed after the CAFS, or they may be mixed in separate CAFS chambers. The resulting foam may be dispensed through a single line or through multiple lines, applied simultaneously and/or at different times, and may be controlled manually and/or through automatic controls, or through a combination of the above.

Systems and compositions for suppressing and extinguishing several classes of fire, e.g. Class D, fires are disclosed. The composition includes some form of powdered aloe vera, a bio-surfactant, a thickening agent, and a diol. The composition may be mixed with paint to coat a structure thus protecting the structure from fire. The composition may also be mixed with epoxy resin for coating a structure also for fire protection. The composition may also be in the form of a gel in canisters for extinguishing fire.

A composition and method of manufacture of Sodium Polyacrylate cross linked polymer containing compounds are described in the various embodiments below. The composition may form a gel like substance. The composition may exhibit beneficial properties to the suppression, or prevention, of a fire, such as adherence to surfaces, thereby smothering a fire, cooling the fuel of the fire, or cooling the potential fuel of a fire, thereby preventing the fire from initiating.

A plastic gel material for preventing spontaneous combustion of coal, including water, a crosslinking agent, a toughener, a coagulant, an aggregate and a water glass. The crosslinking agent (AlCit) is prepared by mixing a polyaluminum chloride solution and a citric acid solution then neutralizing the mixture with a sodium hydroxide solution. The coagulant is one or more of potassium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate or glucono-δ-lactone (GDL). The toughener is one or more of pregelatinized starch, sodium alginate, carboxymethyl cellulose or polyacrylamide. The aggregate is coal ash or bentonite. The plastic gel has good water retention, toughness and inhibition performance, and helps avoid easy cracking and pulverization in inorganic silica gel consolidating bodies after losing water. The plastic gel can cover the surface of burning coal mass, reduce the temperature of the ignition source, heat radiation and production amount of CO, and have a fire extinguishing effect.

A method of making a fire extinguishing composition comprises: forming a first aqueous solution of potassium acetate, potassium formate, or a combination thereof; forming a second aqueous solution comprising a biocide, a bio-surfactant and an optional corrosion inhibitor; combining the first aqueous solution with the second aqueous solution to form a third aqueous solution and mixing until the third aqueous solution is transparent; adding a chelating agent to the transparent third aqueous solution and mixing to form a transparent fourth aqueous solution. A fire extinguishing composition made by the method is also disclosed.

Various embodiments disclosed relate to dry powder fire-fighting compositions. In various embodiments, the present invention provides a method of fighting a fire. The method can include contacting at least one of a fire and a source thereof with a composition including bentonite and aluminum hydroxide.

A tank on a firefighting aircraft initially is loaded with water. A polymer gel emulsion vessel is provided on the aircraft, but is not activated and mixed with tank water until such polymer gel preparation is initiated by an operator. When initiated, a pump pulls water from the tank and doses it with gel emulsion. Double elbows and/or the pump impeller fully activates the polymer gel. The activated polymer gel is mixed within the tank by one of a variety of systems including mixing paddles or sparging with gas. In one embodiment, a hollow tower of telescoping form has a float to keep an upper end near a surface in the tank and a sparging gas entry is a controlled distance below the surface, such that gas of limited pressure, such as from a ram air inlet can sparge and mix the water and activated polymer gel emulsion effectively.