ANCO Manufacturing Compressed Air Foam System - CAFS300
What are CAFS?
CAFS is an acronym for “Compressed Air Foam System” and is a system used in fire-fighting to deliver fire retardant foam onto a fire. A Compressed Air Foam System uses a chemical foam concentrate, combined with water and compressed air to form a fire extinguishing foam that has greater fire fighting ability than the sum of its parts. The overall result is a fire-fighting solution with greatly reduced surface tension (compared to that of water), which enables the solution to penetrate carbon based combustible fuels much faster and more efficiently.
When used as a fire-fighting agent, a steady stream of Compressed Air Foam has a very high heat absorption quality (almost ten times that of water) that will suppress a fire in a fraction of the time when compared to conventional fire-fighting tactics, using plain water only. This is due to the fact that CAFS attacks and works on all three elements of the fire-triangle: Fuel / Oxygen / Heat. CAFS is one of the most effective methods to suppress fires and has been in use for many years in fighting virtually all types of fires and is considered an excellent force multiplier in fire-fighting situations.
Benefits of CAFS?
Very low water consumption (compared to conventional water methods)
Excellent knock-down capabilities. CAFS has more than 7 times the fire extinguishing properties compared to water (independant studies)
Water expansion – effectively expands water capacity up to 10 times
CAFS can be successfully delivered at head heights exceeding 70m (own studies has confirmed)
Compact design – equipment occupies less space on fire fighting vehicles due to compact designs and the ability to retro-fit a system onto existing fire fighting trucks and on multiple vehicle platforms
Due to significant reduction in weight (foam is much lighter than water) hoses are easier to handle reducing fatigue and effort
Virtually no friction loss (foam bubbles moves easier through a hose compared to water) allows longer hose to be used compared to conventional water-based systems
Increased ability to put down a highly visible, longer lasting protection barrier for protecting vegetation and structures
CAFS significantly reduces water damage in fire-fighting operations
Why ANCO CAFS?
ANCO Manufacturing has been developing and producing world-class fire fighting equipment for many years. The need for a lower cost, South African produced and supported CAFS system lead to the development of a 100% local version of this popular fire-fighting apparatus. All components used in the ANCO CAFS system are from reputable manufacturers that has been tried and tested in fire-fighting operations.
Benefits of ANCO CAFS:
- 100% South African designed and produced using international and locally sourced fire-fighting components of highest quality
- Extensive local testing has resulted in a good understanding of the basic CAFS principles and how to apply these to local conditions.
- Local design and manufacture allows ANCO Manufacturing to provide back-up and after-sales support resulting in less down-time and lower cost
- Optimised pump / engine / air flow combination for maximum efficiency. Primary objective remains water consumption with maximum foam capability (using the least amount of water to make the maximum amount of foam)
What is ANCO CAFS 300?
The ANCO CAFS 300 is a compact CAFS / mini CAFS unit designed to be used in forestry -, industrial -, municipal – and structural fire-fighting applications. The ANCO CAFS 300 can be utilized in a self-contained slip-on design that will fit onto the load bin of any standard single cab Bakkie / Pick-up (in skid-unit format) or could be built into the super-structure of a fire truck. Retro-installations are also possible.
