- Author
-
Alger, R. S.
|
Alvares, N. J.
- Title
- Improved Fire Extinguishing System Development for the ULMS Submarine: Generation of High Expansion Foam With Contaminated Air.
- Coporate
- Naval Ordnance Lab., Silver Spring, MD
- Sponsor
- Naval Ships Systems Command, Washington, DC
- Report
-
NOLTR 73-67,
March 19, 1973,
23 p.
- Contract
- N60921-71-C-0059
- Keywords
-
fire extinguishers
|
submarines
|
high expansion foams
|
combustion products
|
water sprays
|
degradation
|
shipboard fires
|
pyrolysis products
|
polymeric materials
|
polyvinyl chloride
|
fire safety
|
plastics
|
ensolite (trademark)
- Identifiers
- submarines
- Abstract
- Efforts to generate high expansion foam with air contamined by combustion and pyrolysis products were expanded to include the smokes from polymeric materials anticipated for the ULMS submarine. The program involved three phases: 1) to test the products from these polymers for their foam breaking ability, 2) to see if the chemical and physical countermeasures developed for other contaminants would permit satisfactory foam production with these products, and 3) to test the most effective countermeasures against the most destruction contaiminants in a full scale operation with a commercial foam generator. Under pyrolysis, all of the polymers generated foam inhibitors but Ensolite and Polyethylene produced the most destructive products. In the laboratory, chemical buffering of the foam solution and scrubbing the contaminated air with water were effective countermeasures for most of the materials but not for the Ensolite products. In the full scale scrubber system tests, satisfactory foam was generated in the presence of the most destructive foam inhibitors including the products from Ensolite. The difference between laboratory and field results emphasizes the need for thorough engineeing and testing of any proposed system in its intended environment.