- Author
- Mason, L. | Stinson, C. | Harrison, R. T.
- Title
- User/Procurement Manual for Retardant Measurement: Mass Flowmeter.
- Coporate
- Forest Service, San Dimas, CA Forest Service, Redding, CA
- Report
- Forest Service Report 9051, April 1990, 28 p.
- Keywords
- manuals | measuring instruments | fire retardants | fire seasons
- Abstract
- During a typical fire season, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service (FS) delivers over 11.7-million gal of fire retardant onto wildfires; more than 6,000 airtanker missions are flown to deliver the retardant. Presently, volume sight gauges on aircraft tanks are used to measure retardant payload being pumped onto an airtanker. These gauges are notoriously inaccurate. Engineering estimates indicate these inaccuracies result in nonoptimal retardant loadings varying from 5 percent overload of rated capacity to 20 percent underloads. Increased safety and efficiency would result if an accurate, reliable measurement system were available to indicate quantity of fire retardant being loaded into airtankers. The system described in this manual meets these requirements and can be slowly phased intouse over the next few years at all airtanker bases. Previous attempts, prior to the system described in this manual being available, to identify and implement off-shelf metering systems met with less than successful use and acceptance at various airtanker bases. The system described in this manual is offered by a Boulder, CO, company "Micro Motion, Inc" (MM).