Purple K Units

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May 10, 2019
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Since Purple K is a powder what pushes the powder through the booster reel they use to apply the powder ? I assume that there is some type of a pump but is the powder pumped directly or is it pushe through by some type of gas ?
 
No, water is not used to apply or mix with Purple-K powder, as the dry chemical agent is water-repellent and does not wet with water.

Dry Propellants (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple-K)How Purple-K is Applied Dry Propellants: Purple-K (potassium bicarbonate) is stored as a dry powder and is typically pressurized and expelled using dry compressed gases like nitrogen or carbon dioxide.

Simultaneous Deployment: While water and firefighting foam are often used alongside Purple-K during complex Class B (flammable liquid) fires—such as on naval ships or aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) trucks—they are deployed through separate nozzles or complementary systems, rather than mixed together.

The following article was published in Issue 1, 2008 of WNYF:

 
Expelled by Nitrogen , here is unit based with Engine Co 33 in Manhattan ( 2024)
 

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I was on a old Auxillary Fleet Tug of WWII vintage that had Twin Agent Systems that combined PKP and AFFF dispensed therough two separate nozzles. These were used in the engineering spaces for main space class bravo (fuel/oil fires). Never had ro use it. The PKP would be used to knock down the fire on the equipment and the overhead, the AFFF was to be used to cover the oil/fuel in the bilges. It was a bulky ststem that was supposed to be used at a distance. As the years went by, installed PKP systems were installed in galleys for the deep fat fryers.
 
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