BS EN 1568 is a European Standard that discusses foam concentrates that are a part of fire extinguishing media. The specifications have been designed to ensure that fire extinguishing media have the minimum useful firefighting capability.
BS EN 1568-3 is the third part in the BS EN 1568 series that specifies requirements for chemical and physical properties, and minimum performance requirements of low expansion foams suitable for surface application to water-immiscible liquids. Requirements are also given for marking.
Firefighting foams are widely used to control and extinguish Class B fires and to inhibit re-ignition. These foams can also be used for prevention of ignition of flammable liquids and, in certain conditions, to extinguish Class A fires.
BS EN 1568-3 on foam concentrates is relevant to:
Foam firefighting systems make use of foam for fire suppression. The foam is an extinguishing agent that cools the fire and coats the fuel to extinguish a fire, effectively separating the fuel from oxygen. You would generally find foam systems in spaces that hold a large amount of combustible and flammable liquids. In this regard, low expansion foam is defined as foam which has an expansion ratio less than 20.
BS EN 1568-3 provides guidance and requirements for grades of foam concentrate, sampling, determination of percentage sediment, freezing point, surface tension, viscosity, as well as expansion and drainage time and temperature conditioning.
Testing and compliance with BS EN 1568-3 can thus ensure that low expansion foam concentrates play a positive role during a fire emergency and incidents of product failure are significantly minimized.
BS EN 1568-3:2018 supersedes BS EN 1568-3:2008, which is withdrawn. The main changes compared to the previous edition are as follows:
EN 1568-3:2018