Abstract: The development process, cooling protection and foam extinguishment of methanol and isopropanol pool fires with diameter of 2.5 m were studied. The results showed that the isopropanol pool fire develops faster than the methanol pool fire during the initial burning stage. Cooling the tank wall with water could significantly influence the development of pool fires. Affected by the dehydration effect of liquid surface and flame, there was a time delay between the release of firefighting foam onto the liquid surface and influence on the pool fire. As the application rate of the foam solution increased, the delay time was shortened.The optimum application rates of foam solution for successful fire extinguishment of methanol and isopropanol pool fires with a diameter of 2.5 m were determined as 4.26 ， 5.02 L/(min·m2), respectively.

Key words: methanol; isopropanol; pool fire; foam extinguishment; application rate