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Research on the pyrolysis of hexafluoropropane (HFC-236fa) fire extinguishing agent and decomposition mechanism

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Abstract

Gas chromatography (GC), ion chromatography (IC), and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry were used to investigate the thermal degradation of hexafluoropropane (HFC-236fa) fire suppression agent between 500 and 850 °C (GC–MS). The results show that the pyrolysis characteristics of HFC-236fa can only occur when the temperature is above 600 °C. The gas products of HFC-236fa pyrolysis mainly contain CHF3, CF2 = CHF, CF3C ≡ CCF3, and (CF3)2C = CF2. The concentration of each component is different with different pyrolysis temperatures and residence times. Moreover, the possible decomposition mechanism of HFC-236fa was proposed based on density functional theory, which was achieved via obtaining the activation energy and the details of dissociation pathways. By under the experimental studies and theoretical calculation, the pyrolysis of HFC-236fa was investigated.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the Scientific Research Project of Jiangsu Police Institute of China (Grant No. 2017SJYZZ04), Key Laboratory of Fire & Rescue Technology and Equipment,Ministry of Emergency Management (Grant No. 2020XFZB06), the project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD) and the collaborative Innovation Center of Social Safety Science and Technology. The authors are also appreciated for the full support from Pine Ridge Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Sichuan Easy Scientific Research Community Technology Co., Ltd., Mianyang 621050, Sichuan, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Police Institute, Nanjing, 210012, Jiangsu, China

    Ting Wang

  2. Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, Jiangsu, China

    Pin Zhang & Ren-ming Pan

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  1. Ting Wang
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  2. Pin Zhang
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Correspondence to Ren-ming Pan.

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Wang, T., Zhang, P. & Pan, Rm. Research on the pyrolysis of hexafluoropropane (HFC-236fa) fire extinguishing agent and decomposition mechanism. J Therm Anal Calorim 147, 11591–11599 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11331-6

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