Summary
To enhance the performance of existing dry powders and ensure process security, a new type of dry powder based on ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (NH4H2PO4) was prepared. The prepared composite superfine dry powder was denoted as NH4H2PO4/zeolite composite in this paper. The effectiveness of commercial ABC dry powder, superfine dry powder, and the NH4H2PO4/zeolite composite in fire suppression were compared in a small‐sized fire‐extinguishing chamber. Laboratory‐scale tests showed that the NH4H2PO4/zeolite composite had considerably superior fire‐extinguishing efficiency to that of commercial ABC dry powder and superfine dry powder, along with shorter average extinguishing time and less average mass of powders consumed. In addition, the NH4H2PO4/zeolite composite also displayed much improved toxic gas suppression ability. The physical and chemical characteristics of commercial ABC dry powder, superfine dry powder, and the NH4H2PO4/zeolite composite were characterized using a range of techniques of laser particle size analysis, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. Based on the analysis results, the improved fire suppression performance of the NH4H2PO4/zeolite composite can be ascribed to smaller particle size, larger surface area, and a special chemical decomposition process.