Alternative Fire Suppressant Chemicals: A Research Review With Recommendations.
Alternative Fire Suppressant Chemicals: A Research
Review With Recommendations.
(2484 K)
Tapscott, R. E.; Sheinson, R. S.; Babushok, V. I.;
Nyden, M. R.; Gann, R. G.
NIST TN 1443; 83 p. December 2001.
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Keywords:
alkanes; alkynes; ehters; alcohols; aldehydes; ketones;
nitrogen; sulfur; phosphorus; metals
Abstract:
Since the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances
that Harm the Ozone Layer in 1987 and its subsequent
amendments, the use of the fire suppressant halon 1301
(CF3Br) has declined sharply to a limited number of
essential applications. Production of this chemical in
the industrialized world tenninated in January 1994, and
the supply of halon 1301 for these essential uses is
being met by established reserves. One of the essential
uses is for fire protection in military and commercial
aircraft. To enable relief from dependence on this
environmentally hannful substance, researchers have
examined a range of chemical compounds as alternatives.
The Department of Defense (DoD) Next Generation Fire
Suppression Technology Program (NGP) has been a
principal contributor to this search. NGP projects have
examined several families of compounds, have created or
adapted methods to screen these chemicals, and are
developing engineering methods for making the best use
of less-than-perfect alternatives to halon 1301 in
military aircraft. Supported by the DoD Strategic
Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP),
the NGP is now in its fifth year, and planning is
underway for the remaining years of this effort. The NGP
Technical Coordinating Committee (TCC) deemed it timely
to re-evaluate the world of chemistry, identify which
chemical families are unlikely to contain usable
alternative chemicals, which have been examined
sufficiently to know that the best candidates have been
already identified, and which families are still in need
of scrutiny. Studies of this last group would then be
included in the research plans for the remainder of the
NGP. This report summarizes the efforts of a task group
to perfonn this re-evaluation.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899