Lakeland and partners research smokeless fire

Emergency response is a constantly evolving industry, and Lakeland College’s Emergency Training Centre (ETC) is leading the way with a research project in partnership with Natural Resources Canada (NRC). The project is looking at ways to decrease the environmental impact of smoke from in-situ burning, which would have huge impacts on responding to industry and oil-related fires.

"Lakeland College is at the forefront of connecting applied research with real world needs,” says Shawn McKerry, dean at the ETC. “Among our many exciting research projects currently going on at the college, our focus on in-situ burning and smoke suppression is something we're particularly proud of at the Emergency Training Centre. It highlights our commitment to developing innovative emergency response strategies.”

The project Is funded through NRC’s Multi-Partner Research Initiative (MPRI). Also involved are France-based researchers James Brian Mitchell and Anca Florescu-Mitchell (MERL-Consulting SAS) and Merv Fingus, a Canadian researcher with 50 years of experience in researching in-situ burning, including over 100 published papers and multiple books. Kurt Hansen from Connecticut is also involved with the project due to his extensive work with water-based emergencies with previous experience with the United States Coast Guard.

The researchers have gathered at Lakeland to make use of the ETC’s facilities to test a variety of compounds designed to minimize smoke. Some of the products are applied to the material before it burns, and some to the water used to suppress the fire while researchers monitor effectiveness.

Mitigating the environmental and health impacts of smoke would have implications both for responding to fires and using fire to assist in the clean up of industrial accidents.

With the help and support of Drago-isi, a Quebec-based company, the team studied methods of applying products to reduce smoke and effective ways of extinguishing the fire. Drago-Isi proposed the use of its "fire cannon" as an application method, which uses 70% less water and 50% less agent than industry-standard fire appliances. The spraying of thousands of water droplets in suspension over great distances makes it much easier to capture toxic smoke.

“With a major catastrophic fire, whether it’s rail, car, truck and trailer or a big tanker, we need to know how to suppress all the smoke,” says Wayne Rose, section chief at Lakeland College. “We know smoke is combustible and it’s not great for the environment. We’re coming up with ways to combat that smoke so it’s a cleaner burn.”

One goal of the research, according to Mitchell, is to make cleaning up oil spills more efficient and effective. He explains there are three accepted ways to clean up an oil spill in a waterway – skimming, dispersing or burning. Skimming – or attempting to scoop the oil out of the water – is about 10 per cent effective, he says. And dispersing can take years to remove all the oil from the water.

“They use dispersants, which are basically like dishwashing liquid. They break the oil up into little droplets for bacteria to eat but it’s very slow,” he explains. “Or you can burn it and get rid of the oil really quickly.”

The problem is the smoke, which can be toxic as well as harmful for the environment.

“If we can mitigate the toxins in the smoke, imagine what we could do,” he says.

Mitchell and Florescu-Mitchell came to Lakeland from France to expand the scale of their tests. In France, they were only able to burn on a smaller scale, and indoors. Open burning is prohibited there.

“The lab facilities have been wonderful at Lakeland,” Mitchell says. “The staff is so helpful. It’s dangerous when you’re doing fires like these, but they can get close to the fire safely with their equipment. They know what they’re doing. We can do all sorts of different fire scenarios here. It’s really so helpful.”

“The research has been going well,” says Rose. “We’re only a few months in but so far, we’re getting some really good results. We’re looking for new firefighting tactics and strategies to help responders and the environment going forward. It’s an exciting point for us.”

A white paper is already being developed by Mitchell in preparation of presenting preliminary findings to members attending the International Oil Spill Conference (IOSC) in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA in May 2024. The project timeline is scheduled for four years which includes product testing, data analysis, delivery methods and application techniques.

 

Photos: Top - James Brian Mitchell and Anca Florescu-Mitchell (MERL-Consulting SAS), researchers from Europe, who partnered with Lakeland on in-situ burning research. Middle - Demonstrating the project at the remote Emergency Training Centre site at Lakeland College. Bottom - The Drago-Isi fire canon in action.