Environmental benefits of using magnesium carbonate minerals as new wildfire retardants instead of commercially available, phosphate-based compounds

Abstract

A serial batch leaching experiment has been carried out to evaluate the release of elements from the ash of Pinus halepensis needles burned under two test conditions-with and without treatment of the forest species with the carbonate minerals (huntite and hydromagnesite) in aqueous solution (pH 6). The ash (before and after leaching) and leachates were analyzed using atomic absorption spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Compared with data from samples treated with the commercially available, phosphate-based fire retardant diammonium phosphate (DAP), we found that use of huntite or hydromagnesite was much more successful in obstructing the release of the toxic elements present in the ash, probably because of the alkaline conditions resulting from decomposition of the minerals during burning. In contrast, DAP tended to be more able to facilitate the extraction of some toxic metals (e.g., Zn, Cu, Mn), probably because of the acidic conditions resulting from its decomposition to phosphoric acid. Data from this study thus lend strong support to the use of magnesium carbonate minerals as new wildfire retardants, because they were shown to be more friendly to the environment (e.g., soil, ground, and underground water streams) than those currently in use (e.g., phosphate or sulfate salt type).

Effect of phosphorus/nitrogen/carbon component ratio in aqueous flame retardant on the fire prevention of wood substrate

“…Recently, forest fire is a global challenge that has been widely focused by many fire‐prone countries such as USA, Canada, China, Australia, and Russia. According to the previous reports, 1–4 the occurrence of forest fire as well as the combustion products often have destructive influences on the forest ecological environment and cause seriously threats to the animals and human lives 5–7 . Because forest wood is one of the most typical solid fuels, 8,9 it is more necessary to develop an effective wood coating to combat forest fire.…”

“…According to the previous reports, 1-4 the occurrence of forest fire as well as the combustion products often have destructive influences on the forest ecological environment and cause seriously threats to the animals and human lives. [5][6][7] Because forest wood is one of the most typical solid fuels, 8,9 it is more necessary to develop an effective wood coating to combat forest fire.Water has been widely used in fire extinguishing and isolation, owing to the high specific heat capacity and latent heat of evaporation. 10,11 Nevertheless, the water on the wood surface is prone to volatilize under outdoor environment, and the fire prevention effect is very limited.…”

Hydromagnesite determination method based on Landsat8 and ZY1-02D data: A case study of the Jiezechaka Salt Lake in Tibet

“…Successively, large hydromagnesite deposits have been discovered in Burdur in southwest Turkey [4] , Tuz Golu Salda in central Turkey, and Kozani in northern Greece [5] , that are currently being developed on a large scale. In addition, large and small hydromagnesite deposits have also been discovered in Salzburg, Austria, Soghan, Iran, Carlsbad, the United States, Pennine, the United Kingdom, Santandai, Spain, and other areas [6,7] . In China, hydromagnesite resources are mainly distributed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with large reserves, and are often directly exposed to the surface, which is suitable for direct open-pit mining.…”

Thermal and fire properties of medium-density fiberboard prepared with huntite/hydromagnesite and zinc borate

“…The use of huntite/hydromagnesite as mineral-based chemicals for various composites and other materials has been investigated by many researchers (Toure et al 1996;Atay and Çelik 2010Atay and Çelik , 2013Atay and Çelik , 2016Şen et al 2014;Dike et al 2017;Güler et al 2017;Savas et al 2018;Camlibel et al 2019). Several studies were also carried out using these minerals as fire retardant chemicals for forest fire, some forest species and wood parts (Liodakis et al 2008(Liodakis et al , 2009(Liodakis et al , 2013Liodakis and Tsoukala 2010). However, there is limited information about the use of these chemicals as fire retardants for wood-based materials.…”