Novel Fire Suppression Materials for Advanced Aircraft.
Abstract
This study sought to select candidate agents that may be used to extinguish fires in engine nacelles of advanced aircraft. More than 150 powdered chemicals, liquids, gels and slurries were screened for their capability to extinguish flames from JP-4 fuel impinging on a heated stainless steel plate in the presence of an air current. Potassium bicarbonate, potassium iodide, lithium carbonate and sodium carbonate powers (-325 mesh) and a 0.8:1 lithium chloride/water solution were selected on the basis of tests in a tunnel in which air was allowed to flow at 18 fps. The test surface was a 6 x 6-inch (15 cm x 15 cm) square heated to about 1700 F (927 C) with JP-4 impinging on it at about 100 cc/s. Tests with all the fire extinguishing agents but potassium bicarbonate at NASA-Ames facility failed. It was postulated that the basic fuel ignition and extinguishment mechanisms are quite dependent on the design of the apparatus and the conditions of the test. A comparison was made among the requirements for a Halon 1301 versus a potassium bicarbonate automatic extinguishing system. Analysis showed that the latter system, with a reliability of only 80% (thus necessitating the use of three redundant systems to achieve 99.2% total reliability) demands smaller volume and weight penalties than a system using Halon 1301. Keywords: Aircraft engine fires, Jet engine fuels, Potassium bicarbonate.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1978
- Accession Number
- ADA165881
Entities
People
- D. P. Crowley
- S. Atallah
Organizations
- Arthur D. Little