Blast Initiated Deluge System: An Ultra-High-Speed Fire Suppression System
Abstract
In response to incidents at munitions plants that have caused considerable equipment damage, production delays, and personnel injuries, the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Fire Research Group at Tyndall Air Force Base has been working to invent a more effective deluge system capable of stopping high velocity fires caused by deflagration of explosives, propellants, and pyrotechnic materials. A detector has been developed that is one hundred times faster than the best detector on the market, and water velocity three times faster than the exiting state of the art system has been achieved. In live fire experiments of up to four pounds of magnesium-Teflon pyrotechnic material, the AFRL deluge system put water on fires 36 inches from the spray head six milliseconds after detection and extinguished the fires in as little as 16 milliseconds. Compared to the NFPA requirement of 100 millisecond response from detection to initiation of water flow, and compared to 26 milliseconds from detection to water on fires for the best current deluge system, AFRL's system offers the prossibility of suppressing fires in facilites where ultra-fast burning materials are manufactured or handled.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 13, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA441425
Entities
People
- Douglas Dierdorf
- John Hawk
Organizations
- Applied Research Associates (United States)