- Author
-
Reinhardt, J. W.
|
Blake, D.
|
Marker, T.
- Title
- Development of a Minimum Performance Standard for Aircraft Cargo Compartment Gaseous Fire Suppression Systems. Final Report.
- Coporate
- Federal Aviation Administration, Atlantic City International Airport, NJ
- Report
-
DOT/FAA/AR-00/28,
September 2000,
78 p.
- Distribution
- AVAILABLE FROM: Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center's Fire Safety Section's Full-Text technical reports page (in Adobe Acrobat portable document format [PDF]): http//www.fire.tc.faa.gov/reports/report.stm AVAILABLE FROM National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161. Telephone: 1-800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000; Fax: 703-605-6900; Rush Service (Telephone Orders Only) 800-553-6847; Website: http://www.ntis.gov AVAILABLE FROM: Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center's Fire Safety Section's Full-Text technical reports page: http://www.fire.tc.faa.gov/reports/report.stm
- Keywords
-
aircraft compartments
|
cargo space
|
fire suppression
|
flammable liquids
|
explosions
|
halon 1301
|
aerosols
|
temperature measurements
|
oxygen concentration
|
ignition source
|
fire load
|
extinguishing
- Identifiers
- bulk load fires; containerized fires; minimum performance standard; surface burning; aerosol can explosion; arc; pressure measurement
- Abstract
- This report documents the testing program that was commissioned by the International Halon Replacement Working Group (IHRWG) to develop the minimum performance standard for aircraft cargo compartment built-in fire suppression systems. The evaluation tests were conducted at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) William J. Hughes Technical Center in a modified DC-10 aircraft. The results from these tests, based on the Halon 1301 performance under well-defined cargo fire scenarios, were used to define the acceptance criteria that will be used to certify alternate gaseous extinguishing agents for aircraft cargo compartment fire protection. Four different fire test scenarios were specified in the standard developed by the MRWG; bulk-load fire, containerized fire, flammable liquid fire (surface burning), and an aerosol can explosion. The deep-seated fire scenarios (bulk load and containerized load) used shredded paper loosely packed in cardboard boxes to simulate the combustible fire load. The difference between these two test scenarios was that in the containerized fire load the boxes were stacked inside a LD3 container, while in the bulk-load fire scenario the boxes were loaded directly into the cargo compartment. The fuel used in the surface burning tests was 0.5 U.S gallon (1.89 liters) of Jet A fuel. The aerosol explosion tests were executed by using an aerosol can simulator containing a flammable/explosive mixture of propane, alcohol, and water. This mixture was ignited when it was exposed to an arc from sparking electrodes. Baseline tests under each of these fire scenarios were conducted to establish the conditions when no extinguishing agent was used. These worst-case test conditions provided data that were used to highlight the performance of Halon 1301 when discharged in the compartment. When Halon 1301 was used, it totally flooded the compartment providing an initial volumetric concentration of 5% or higher and extinguishing open flames. During the deep-seated fires, a closed-loop-metered system was activated in order to maintain a minimum average volumetric concentration of 3% and protect the compartment for the duration of the 30-minute test. Test results showed that the combination of extinguishing systems were capable of controlling the deep-seated fires but as expected did not extinguish them. In the case of flammable liquid fires, Halon 1301 completely extinguished them in less than 45 seconds. Halon 1301 was also capable of inerting the aircraft cargo compartment when exposed to explosive mixtures of hydrocarbons. A minimum of 3%, by volume, was sufficient to inert the cargo bay. Table 3 summarizes the results obtained during this program. Appendix A presents the Minimum Performance Standard for Aircraft Cargo Compartment Gaseous Fire Suppression Systems developed by MRWG. This standard defines the tests needed to determine the performance of a halon replacement fire protection system designed to be installed onboard an aircraft cargo compartment.