ParcFerme.Com

With a notable increase in the use of alternative fuels throughout motorsport to bring the sport to a more environmentally sensitive level, fire suppression specialists Lifeline felt that it was important to ensure their current range of fire extinguishers are able to knockdown a bio-fuel or diesel fire with the same effectiveness as one involving unleaded race fuels.

Since the discovery that certain standard extinguishers do not put out fires that develop with fuels such as diesel and bio-ethanol, a major safety issue in motorsport has arisen and a reliable standard needs to be created to ensure complete safety in these circumstances.

Following meetings with motorsport's governing body, the FIA, surrounding the future requirements for fire suppression equipment, Lifeline conducted extensive in-house tests to prove the effectiveness of their technology.  Lifeline's latest FIA specification fire test cells were used during the tests and their Zero 360 gas and Zero 2000 foam extinguisher systems were tested rigorously to all current FIA homologated standards using race specification unleaded, diesel and bio-ethanol E35 fuels.  The tests confirmed that all of the systems within the gas-based Zero 360 range had extinguished all the fuel fires to maximum effect.  Lifeline's Zero 2000 range also passed all the tests with the alternative fuels, although it is recommended that Zero 360 systems are used with diesel applications.

Lifeline's innovative Zero 360 range - which uses the environmentally friendly DuPontTM FE36 gas extinguishant - is used extensively in top level motorsport, where alternative fuels are making the most impact.  With the Zero 2000 foam system also proving successful, the positive results gained from the tests will be welcomed by users of both these popular systems.

A major benefit to customers with existing Lifeline extinguisher systems is that if a vehicle is converted to take one of the current alternative fuels, no modifications will be required to the Lifeline system.

Commenting on the tests, Jim Morris, director of Lifeline said: "Some existing systems do not address fires involving certain alternative fuels, such as diesel and bio-ethanol, due to the blend of extinguishant and the process used.  As these fuels are increasingly being used, we feel it is important to highlight the proven effectiveness of our systems in extinguishing such fires."