Fire Precautions for Laboratories

It’s necessary to know some vital tips about fire precautions for laboratories. Taking burning substances as the example, there are always some unexpected natural accidents. If your clothes are on fire, your first instinct may be frightened and then could run to the nearest shower or a fire blanket. Do not run! Running will burn more prosperous fire, thereby increasing the likelihood of serious injury.

Fire Precautions for Laboratories
fire precautions

In fact, the correct response is not to run but fall down to the ground, while at the same time using your hands to cover your face because it can protect your face and lungs. If your colleagues’ clothes catch fire and they feel startled, you should tell them not to run and help extinguish the fire. Specifically, combustion is a chemical reaction of a substance ( cubicin ) to be oxidized rapidly, which requires three crucial elements: oxygen, fuel and sufficient temperature. Therefore, in order to extinguish the fire, you had better control at least one of the three. You can prevent oxygen from contacting with fire, remove combustion or lower the temperature. Well, how about the combustion process?

Combustion Process: combustible material in different states can have varying combustion process. Based on participant combustible substances, fire can be divided into four different types.

1. A-type fire could be those substances in the form of fuel ash residue, such as paper, wood, cloth, rubber, and some plastics.
2. B-type fire could be flammable liquids and gases, such as gasoline, kitchen grease, propane, acetylene, copper, etc.
3. C-type fire could be power lines and electricity facilities (motor, computer, control panel). Note that if you cut off the electricity supply facilities, C-type fire can be classified as one of the other three.
4. D-type fire could be unstable metal fire, such as magnesium, sodium, titanium, and some organometallic compounds such as aluminum alkyl and grignard reagent.

Any kind of fire can be included in more than one category. For example, if the fire was caused by paper and grease, it could be A-type and B-type.

In summary, fire precautions should be payed more attention, for the purpose of reducing some unnecessary laboratory incidents. In addition, by doing this a safer lab environment can be realized. Just be more cautious while doing chemical experiments and you will enjoy the great experimental laboratory.