Recycling and Landfill Industries

Hazard Control Technologies has worked with various landfill and recycling centers. F-500 Encapsulator Agent has been used at landfills which are generally a Class A fire, often with deep-seated sources. One example was an illegal landfill in Texas with burning tires, shingles, automobile parts, wood and other fuels. 25-gallons of F-500 EA was used at 1% to extinguish the 300 foot long, 30 foot high pile. Foam cannot smother a fire like this since the source is usually subsurface. Water alone will not penetrate, but F-500 EA reduces the surface tension of the water drops allowing it to penetrate deep into the landfill to perform its cooling and encapsulating. Even then, these are often very deep-seated fires and require a piercing rod or dismantling of the pile by heavy machinery.

At a recycling facility in New York, finely ground glass and plastic were smoldering in a pile 200 feet long and 40 feet high, causing a foul odor. F-500 EA was injected with a piercing rod. Although this was successful extinguishing small areas and removing the odor, the fire was very extensive. The EPA recommended the pile be dismantled. For the next two weeks, they continually sprayed F-500 EA as they excavated to make sure the fire was out, prevent odors from emanating and to capture escaping gases. The EPA monitored benzene and methane levels which never exceeded zero.

By far, the most common application in this industry is fighting tire fires. One of the largest was one million tires at Gila River, AZ. The fire quickly spread throughout 16 piles. An emergency shipment of F-500 EA arrived after two days and extinguished this fully involved tire fire. F-500 EA is well-suited for tire fires, because tire fires are a three-dimensional fire requiring penetration into the piles. Because F-500 EA cools and encapsulates the oil that is produced when tires burn, it is able to quickly turn the black smoke into a white vapor.

Depending on the stage of recycling, these tire fires can be whole tires, chipped, shredded or granular. The final product sold by recyclers is usually granular before it is sold for fuel (TDF) or use in new products (TDA), such as floor mats, playground cover, landscape cover, molded products, roadbeds and septic systems. These fine rubber crumbs are flammable and fires are easily controlled with F-500 EA.

Incident Informer

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