- Author
-
Scheffey, J. L.
|
Wright, J. A.
- Title
- Analysis of Test Criteria for Specifying Foam Firefighting Agents for Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting. Final Report.
- Coporate
- Hughes Associates, Inc., Columbia, MD
- Sponsor
- Federal Aviation Administration, Atlantic City International Airport, NJ
- Report
-
DOT/FAA/CT-94-04,
August 1994,
93 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
-
foam extinguishing systems
|
aircraft rescue
|
fire fighting
|
aqueous films
|
aqueous foams
|
hydrocarbon fuels
|
protein foams
|
surface tension
|
expansion
|
shelf life
|
storage stability
- Identifiers
- foam testing; military specification; aircraft crash rescue firefighting; spreading co-efficient; drainage; foam standards
- Abstract
- Foam agent quantities and application rates for FAA certified airports are based on large-scale fire test data of Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) and protein-based foams. The philosophy is to control aircraft fuel fires in sixty seconds. Foam agents which are used for aviation applications should demonstrate this level of performance, including a safety factor which assures adequate performance under less than optimum conditions. A review of standard test methods and performance criteria indicates a wide range of requirements. The U.S. Military Specification (MIL SPEC) for AFFF, on which the original agent criteria was developed, is the most stringent in terms of extinguishment application density. However, no direct correlation has been demonstrated between many of the required physical/chemical properties tests and fire extinguishment/burnback performance. It was demonstrated, using comparative data from numerous small- and large-scale fire tests, that the small-scale MIL SPEC fire tests correlate with large-scale test results. MIL SPEC agents, which provide a safety factor over minimum FAA requirements, also are formulated to have proportioning, storage, stability, and shelf-life attributes appropriate for crash rescue firefighting applications. Adoption of the MIL SPEC for AFFF agents is recommended. Future work related to foam testing should focus on the use of first principles to establish fundamental foam extinguishment mechanisms.