Spumometer photographed on July 31st, 1931

Spumometer photographed on July 31st, 1931. During the interwar years, the Office’s Technical Committee of Chemistry conducted theoretical and practical research on the properties of extinguishing agents. The efficiency of foams for extinguishing hydrocarbon fires was measured with a specially designed device called the spumometer. Invented by Charles-Pierre Quillard, the device allows for a methodical study of the foam’s quality based on the respective actions of various components and ingredients. The data obtained made it possible to determine the qualitative and quantitative influence of the extinguishing foam’s individual ingredients. These tests helped to define the specificities expected from the loading of these devices, both in terms of their composition and the volume of the gas container. Office national des recherches scientifiques et industrielles et des inventions. Extract from the book Inventions 1915-1939 by Luce Lebart.