Silicon-Based Cured Foam for Rapid Forest Fire Blocking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current materials for building forest fire isolation belts, such as natural water, dry powders, foams, and gels, face issues like poor adhesion, high pollution, re-ignition, and inefficient application, making them ineffective for rapid and long-lasting fire blocking.
Innovation Solution
A silicon-based cured foam material is developed, combining different foaming agents to enhance foam expansion and stability, with an aggregate added for improved burning resistance, allowing the foam to adhere to vegetation and form a solid layer that isolates oxygen and prevents re-ignition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If natural water is used for fire blocking, then it is easy to apply, but it has poor adhesion and large fluidity causing it to run off vegetation surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite materials by combining water with foam agents, binders, and aggregates to create a fire-blocking composition that maintains ease of application while significantly improving adhesion. The foam structure with solid particles embedded in a binder matrix allows the material to stick to vegetation surfaces while remaining water-based for easy spraying application.
Solution Approach 2:
The foam-based composition creates a porous structure that can adhere to surfaces while maintaining fluidity for application. The气泡 (bubbles) provide a matrix that can penetrate and stick to vegetation surfaces, then solidify to form an adherent fire-blocking layer that doesn't simply run off like pure water.
2Reliability
If dry powder materials are used for fire blocking, then they have excellent blocking effect, but they cause heavy pollution and are difficult to apply remotely
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state parameter from dry powder to foam liquid form. This transformation maintains the blocking effectiveness (as the foam still forms a physical barrier) while eliminating the pollution issues associated with dry powder scattering and making remote spraying feasible through liquid delivery systems.
Solution Approach 2:
By converting the fire-blocking material into a foam that can be sprayed through hydraulic/pneumatic systems, the patent enables remote application while maintaining blocking effectiveness. The foam structure allows liquid delivery without the pollution problems of dry powder, using fluid dynamics for controlled application.
3Ease of operation
If water-based foams are used for fire blocking, then they can be sprayed easily, but they have fast bubble bursting and poor adhesion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a composite foam system combining water, foam agents, binders, and aggregates. This composite structure slows bubble bursting by providing structural support from the binder and solid particles, while maintaining sprayability through the liquid foam base. The combination of components works synergistically to extend foam life without sacrificing application ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The foam composition uses local quality differentiation where different components serve specific functions: foam agents provide sprayability and initial expansion, binders provide adhesion and bubble wall strength, and aggregates provide structural support to slow bursting. Each component is optimized for its local function within the composite system.
4Reliability
If gel materials are used for fire blocking, then they have good stability, but they have complicated preparation process and expensive raw materials
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the formulation parameters to use simpler, more economical components that can achieve gel-like stability without requiring complex gelation chemistry. By using foam-based composition with appropriate binders and aggregates, the system achieves comparable stability to gel materials but with simpler preparation and lower cost raw materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs cost-effective, readily available materials (water, common foam agents, basic binders, and aggregates) rather than expensive specialized gel materials. The composition is designed to be economically viable for large-scale fire prevention applications while maintaining adequate performance through proper formulation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The silicon-based cured foam material effectively reduces fire temperature, forms a durable, non-polluting, and cost-effective barrier that can be quickly applied, significantly inhibiting forest fire spread and recurrence.
Implementation Method 1
different foaming agents are combined to increase foam expansion ratios of each single foaming agent and prolong a foam half-life
Implementation Method 2
a solid particle-containing covering layer can still be formed after bubble bursting to isolate oxygen and allow uneasy re-ignition
Implementation Method 3
the silicon-based cured foam material can adhere to a surface of a forest vegetation for a long time after being sprayed to significantly reduce a temperature of a fire source
Data Source
AI summary
A silicon-based cured foam material for rapidly blocking a forest fire includes: a binder, a foaming agent, a coagulant, an aggregate, and water, where when the water is in 100 parts by mass, the binder is in 4.5 parts to 6 parts by mass, the foaming agent is in 0.9 parts to 1.2 parts by mass, and the coagulant is in 7.5 parts to 10 parts by mass; a mass ratio of the aggregate to the water is 1:(10-20); and the foaming agent is a mixture of sodium dodecyl sulfate and dodecyl dimethyl betaine or a mixture of tetradecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride and dodecyl dimethyl betaine. The silicon-based cured foam material has a high viscosity and excellent elasticity due to gelation properties. And because solid particles are attached to bubble walls, a particle-containing covering layer can still be formed after bubble bursting to isolate a vegetation from oxygen.