Microencapsulation Fire Extinguishing Technology: A Revolutionary Leap from “Environmental Burden” to “Green Firefighting”

In today’s world, where green and low-carbon practices have become a global consensus, the fire protection industry is also undergoing a quiet environmental revolution. Traditional fire extinguishing agents often bring problems such as environmental pollution, resource waste, and safety redundancy during use. However, emerging microencapsulation technology, through innovation in materials science and encapsulation processes, has achieved a leap from “passive disaster relief” to “proactive environmental protection,” leading fire safety into a new stage of precision, low carbon emissions, and sustainability.

I. Core Extinguishing Agent: Perfluorohexanone – The “Green Heart” of Clean Fire Extinguishing

The environmentally friendly nature of microencapsulated fire extinguishing technology originates primarily from its encapsulated core agent – ​​perfluorohexanone. As an internationally recognized clean fire extinguishing agent, it excels in environmental performance:

Zero Ozone Depletion: Its molecules contain no chlorine or bromine, resulting in an ozone depletion potential (ODP) of 0, completely eliminating the ozone layer threat posed by traditional halon-based fire extinguishing agents.

Negative Greenhouse Effect: Its global warming potential (GWP) is only 1, less than 0.03% of that of heptafluoropropane, and it decomposes naturally in the atmosphere after only about 5 days, leaving virtually no long-term environmental traces.

Non-toxic and Harmless, Zero Residual Pollution: No solid or liquid residue remains after extinguishing the fire; it does not damage precision equipment, does not pollute soil or water sources, and can be safely used in sensitive locations such as data centers and food factories.

II. Microencapsulation: From “Extensive Spraying” to “Intelligent Controlled Release”

Microencapsulation technology achieves “precise delivery” of fire extinguishing agents through physical encapsulation and thermal response mechanisms, fundamentally reducing environmental damage during use:

Locking in evaporation and reducing dispersion: Perfluorohexanone has a low boiling point and is highly volatile. The microcapsule shell acts as a barrier, improving storage stability by over 90% and avoiding air pollution and resource waste caused by ineffective evaporation.

On-demand response and precise fire extinguishing: It rapidly ruptures and releases the extinguishing agent only when the ambient temperature reaches a set threshold (e.g., 80℃-180℃). For example, in electrical fires, only 0.5 grams of extinguishing agent are needed to extinguish the fire, less than 1% of the dosage used in traditional methods, greatly reducing agent overuse.

Degradable shell and recyclable materials: The capsule shell can be made of degradable polymers such as starch-based polymers, which decompose naturally after fire extinguishing; it can also be embedded in building materials and textiles, giving the substrate a lasting fire-resistant function and enabling resource reuse.

III. Low Carbon Throughout the Entire Lifecycle: A Green Footprint from Production to Application

This technology permeates all stages of production, storage, transportation, and application, systematically reducing the carbon footprint:

Domestic Production Reduces Costs and Carbon: Domestic companies achieve mass production through technologies such as microfluidics, reducing the cost of core materials by a hundredfold and minimizing carbon emissions from long-distance import transportation.

Pressureless and Safe Storage and Transportation: Existing in solid patch or powder form, it eliminates the need for high-pressure cylinders, reducing transportation energy consumption and leakage risks. Logistics carbon emissions are reduced by approximately 60% compared to traditional fire extinguishers.

Empowering Green Buildings: It can be directly incorporated into building materials such as coatings, adhesives, and boards, constructing an integrated “passive fire protection + active fire extinguishing” system, reducing the need for independent fire-fighting equipment and lowering carbon emissions throughout the building’s lifecycle.

IV. Practical Implementation: Verifying Environmental Benefits in Multiple Scenarios

High-Speed ​​Rail Sector: After adopting microencapsulated modified fire-retardant coatings, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-Speed ​​Railway reduced the use of dry powder fire extinguishing agents by approximately 12 tons annually, eliminating the need for residue cleanup and reducing operation and maintenance energy consumption.

New Energy Vehicles: A car manufacturer embeds microcapsules into the sealant of battery packs, achieving immediate suppression of thermal runaway, leaving no residue after fire extinguishing, and increasing the battery material recyclability rate to 95%.

Home Fire Protection: Fire extinguishing patches are being incorporated into everyday home decoration, significantly reducing annual carbon emissions for a single household from 50 kg to approximately 3 kg. The products are biodegradable after disposal.

V. Future Outlook: Bio-based and Water-based Technologies Leading the Way to “Zero-Pollution” Firefighting

Cutting-edge research is advancing towards more thorough environmental protection. For example, water-based microcapsules, using pure water as the core extinguishing agent and starch-based materials as the outer shell, have been developed, achieving “zero-pollution fire extinguishing + complete material degradation.” This technology shows great potential in confined spaces such as submarines and spacecraft, with millisecond-level response speeds and being harmless to humans, marking a crucial step forward for microcapsule fire extinguishing technology towards the ultimate environmental goal.