Perimeter Solutions exhibited at the Australia Oil & Gas (AOG) Show in Perth, Australia, and Duncan White, Group Editor at MDM Publishing took the opportunity to catch up with David Phoenix, Sales Director, Asia Pacific Region, Perimeter Solutions about their participation at AOG and their latest product innovation, SOLBERG VERSAGARD, a new line of fluorine-free firefighting foam concentrates.
Introduced 40 years ago, the annual AOG event gathers the local industry and showcases products and services being offered by companies taking part in the exhibit.
Duncan White (DJW): Hi David, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule. Please can you provide some background on Perimeter Solutions and why you’re here at the AOG show?
David Phoenix (DP): Thanks for this opportunity Duncan, it’s really appreciated. Perimeter Solutions produces high-quality firefighting products and lubricant additives. We focus on developing products that impact critically important issues of life, where there is often no room for error and there’s no room for second chances. Our Fire Safety group is the largest global producer of firefighting chemicals, with our fire retardant and foam products used by organisations around the world.
We are excited to be at AOG this week. It’s a key market for us and we welcome the opportunity to speak directly with end users and key industry personnel. We recently introduced a new product – something that should be of interest to organisations in the oil and gas industry – and this will be the first conference we are exhibiting at since it became available.
DJW: Can you tell me more about the new product you have at the show?
DP: In late February, Perimeter Solutions announced the introduction of SOLBERG VERSAGARD, a new line of fluorine-free firefighting foam concentrates for general purpose use. At AOG, we are debuting the first product in the series, SOLBERG VERSAGARD AS-100, a multipurpose 3×3 fluorine-free foam concentrate that is designed for extinguishing and securing both Class B [hydrocarbon and polar solvent liquid fuel] and deep-seated Class A fires.
VERSAGARD AS-100 is a biodegradable and non-persistent concentrate made with no siloxanes, that delivers excellent foaming, vapour sealing, extinguishment and burn-back properties whether used with fresh, sea or brackish water. Some fluorine-free foams can be viscous, and their viscosity increases further after they are in contact with water. That’s not the case with AS-100, which is a fully hydrated product which maintains a similar viscosity to traditional AR-AFFF foams.
DJW: Aside from VERSAGARD, are there other technologies that are grabbing the attention of AOG customers.
DP: Even though it was introduced more than a decade ago, there’s still a lot of interest in our SOLBERG RE-HEALING foam concentrates, which are fluorine-free foam concentrates that are used on Class B hydrocarbon and polar solvent fuel fires. We have Oil & Gas customers all over the world who have been using SOLBERG RE-HEALING foam concentrates for many years.
DJW: What do you attribute the interest in the RE-HEALING product to?
DP: For some time, we have seen that customers across all industries are more frequently looking at fluorine-free solutions due to regulations being introduced to phase out the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Here in Australia, Queensland, South Australia and NSW have all introduced policies to phase out or restrict PFAS-containing foams. This is a common theme globally, with international awareness and attention around PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’. Just last year in the United States, in the state of California, their governor approved California Senate Bill 1044, another new regulation that is pushing the fire-safety industry to move away from PFAS-containing foams to fluorine-free solutions.
We have worked with a range of clients in recent years to help them make the transition from fluorinated foam systems to fluorine-free. Most customers are ready to move to fluorine-free, because like our new VERSAGARD line, they offer similar effectiveness to their current products and can be easily integrated into existing systems. Our foams hold the widest range of approvals and are listed with an extensive complement of hardware.
DJW: You have attended AOG in the past. What trends are you seeing in the industry with regards to fire safety?
DP: From our point of view, as a foam manufacturer, we are obviously seeing the drive by end users to ensure they comply with current and future environmental regulations, and this is in turn driving a focus on global testing and approvals. End users want to have the confidence they can choose a product that is tested and approved for use for the application they have. This is why Perimeter Solutions puts so much effort into product development and ensuring we have the widest range of international third-party approvals. This provides end users with the confidence they need to make the right decision when they choose one of our fluorine-free foams. This is particularly the case in high-risk industries such as Oil & Gas and Petrochemical but equally with First Responders and municipal firefighting agencies.
For more information, go to www.perimeter-solutions.com
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