From glucose to the hose: Fluorine-free firefighting foam concentrate production

From Glucose To The Hose Project Team Picture

Bernice Atienza, Eunseol Ko, Alex Nguyen, Alexa Ouma and Genesis Saturos

Degree:
- Bachelor of Applied Science
Program:
- Chemical and Biological Engineering
Campus: Vancouver

Our project

Canada’s plan to completely phase out conventional PFAS-containing firefighting foams for Class B fires (those involving flammable liquids or gases) by spring 2029 is driving demand for high-performance fluorine-free alternatives.

Our goal was to develop an alternative formulation that replaces the fluorine component of traditional foams with a biodegradable surfactant.

We designed a process to produce 1,020 tonnes per year of fluorine-free firefighting foam concentrate using alkyl polyglucosides (APG) as the primary surfactant. The resulting concentrate can be mixed with water and aerated to produce a foam that performs comparably to existing products while eliminating fluorinated compounds.

Our design solution

At the outset of our project, we needed to identify which compound could effectively replace fluorine in firefighting foam. This required extensive research on different formulations of surfactants and understanding the properties of current foams.

After deciding on APG, we designed a processing plant capable of producing the concentrate at industrial scale.

Our five-stage process consists of the initial reaction of our inputs (dextrose, a mix of alcohols and a catalyst) to form APG, alcohol recovery in a horizontal knockout drum that recovers 98% of unreacted alcohol for reuse, solid separation in a vacuum rotary drum filter, a two-stage liquid separation in a thin-film and short-path evaporator, and additive mixing to achieve the industry standard for firefighting foam concentrate.

Our proposed facility in Delta, BC, would be capable of producing just over 1,000 tonnes of product annually. Our economic analysis shows that we have developed a feasible and competitive process.

From Glucose To The Hose Project Capstone Poster.

The technical challenges we faced

This is a new area of research, making it difficult to find publicly available information on APG formulations. We read through many patents and research papers to gain the knowledge needed to choose feedstocks and catalysts.

In keeping with the principles of green chemistry, we wanted to recover as much alcohol as possible. Some of the papers we read on producing APG do recycle alcohol, but they do not use the same feedstocks as we do.

In the end, we chose two evaporators in series to achieve this – a short path evaporator and a thin film evaporator.

They are both quite niche, which made it challenging to determine optimal operating conditions. Incorporating them into our control strategy and piping and instrumentation design required us to fully understand how each component of the evaporator system worked.

What we’re most proud of

Our teamwork was fantastic. At the start of the project, we were acquaintances. By the end, we were a solid team with strong relationships built on open communication and respect, where we felt comfortable taking risks. Each of us has our own interests, backgrounds, co-op experience and strengths. As a group, we came together to evaluate each option in our process and come to agreement about which option should be pursued. We listened to each other, respected each other’s opinions and built on each person’s input.

We’re also proud of our initiative to address a significant global issue about which there is very little information. By using our technical knowledge, constantly learning and consulting with our professors and advisors, we were able to develop a process that results in a biodegradable additive for firefighting foam.

It was very rewarding to deliver our final presentation to our classmates and audience of professors and industry processionals. It was proof of how much technical knowledge and confidence we’ve gained over the course of this project.

What’s next for our project

If we had more time, we would have liked to scale up our process even more, as looking back we think we were a bit conservative when estimating our production rate. Given the prevalence of PFAS, it would also be interesting to explore other applications and markets for PFAS-free materials.

On a personal level, this project affirmed the many different career specializations you can take as a chemical and biological engineer – from consulting on equipment sizing, processes and equipment to working in a facility to make sure the equipment is running correctly or being in charge of control loops.

It’s exciting to think about the many career pathways open to us and the ways we can use our skills to make an impact.