- Author
-
International Halon Replacement Working Group
- Title
- User Preferred Fire Extinguishing Agent for Cargo Compartments. Final Report.
- Report
-
DOT/FAA/AR-93/30,
July 1996,
43 p.
- Distribution
- 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. Website: http://www.ntis.gov
- Keywords
-
fire extinguishing agents
|
cargo space
|
aircraft compartments
|
halons
|
aircraft structures
|
surveys
|
data analysis
- Identifiers
- cargo compartment
- Abstract
- The aviation industry unanimously desires that a halon replacement fire suppression system must be highly efficient, require none to minimal clean up effort, be low in toxicity to humans and animals, be environmentally friendly, be compatible with onboard systems, and lend itself to simple integration with existing systems at a reasonable cost. The response to a survey mailed to end users was poor due to the lack of fire suppression effectiveness data for potential fire threats in cargo compartments. Approximately 46 percent of the users did not respond. A majority (60 percent) of the respondents believe the halocarbon group is the best choice, but a small but significant number believe water and particulate aerosols can better serve the purpose. There was no solidarity of opinion on what agent group can best meet the above stated characteristics. However, the respondents were unanimous in their opinion that the high expansion foams are not appropriate for use in cargo compartments. The Task Group (see preface) makes the following recommendations: (i) only agent and agent groups that meet the above stated characteristics should be considered; (ii) halocarbon and halocarbon blends, approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and recognized by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), be challenged with test fires to determine design parameters; (iii) aerosol agents and water additives which have been determined by this Task Group to be noncorrosive, people and animal friendly, and easy to clean be tested; (iv) high expansion foams be deleted from further consideration; (v) design parameters be developed for water-based system; (vi) a second survey be conducted when fire suppression data, gained from a series of fire tests, is available; and (vii) a copy of this report, without the appendices, be provided to all organizations participating in the survey.