NGP Advances in Powder Panel and Propellant Technologies.
NGP Advances in Powder Panel and Propellant
Technologies.
(502 K)
Grosshandler, W. L.; Cyphers, D. C.; Holland, G. F.
HOTWC 2006;
Halon Options Technical Working Conference, 16th
Proceedings. HOTWC 2006. May 16-18, 2006, Albuquerque,
NM, 1-12 pp, 2006.
Keywords:
halon alternatives; halons; halon 1301; fire
suppression; powder panels; solid propellants; test
device; dispersion; fire tests; temperature; fire
extinguishing agents; gas generators
Abstract:
Halon 1301 has a vapor pressure high enough to propel it
from a storage bottle and through distribution piping
rapidly enough to suppress even fast growing fires.
Nitrogen gas is used to pressurize halon 1301 storage
bottles to ensure that even at temperatures as low as
-40 DGC, when halon 1301 is a liquid, the pressure is
sufficient for rapid discharge of the fire suppressing
fluid. Hydrofluorocarbon alternatives to halon 1301 such
as HFC 125 are discharged in a similar manner, but
because around three times the amount of agent is
required to ensure the fire is extinguished, the amount
of nitrogen needed to pressurize the fluid is also
increased, leading to a system that is considerably
bulkier and heavier than the halon 1301 system. Two
technologies were explored in the Next Generation
Program (NGP) that avoid the need for a high pressure
storage vessel to operate effectively. These
technologies are (1) powder panels, and (2) solid
propellant gas generators. Both of these technologies
have the ability to discharge fire fighting agent in
less than 100 ms, which makes them suitable for
protecting dry bays (enclosed spaces adjacent to a fuel
cell). The solid propellant gas generator can be adapted
to aircraft engine nacelles, as well. Powder panels
consist of powdered fire extinguishing agents
sandwiched, unpressurized, between two rigid membranes
that, as a unit, can be attached to or used in place of
the skin of the aircraft confining a dry bay. The powder
is released and dispersed into the dry bay when the
panel is pierced by a projectile, forming an aerosol
cloud sufficiently dense to prevent ignition or suppress
a fire resulting from the rupture of the adjacent fuel
tank. The system is entirely passive.
