Performance of a Fast Response Agent Concentration Meter.
Performance of a Fast Response Agent Concentration
Meter.
(1350 K)
Johnsson, E. L.; Mulholland, G. W.; Fraser, G. T.;
Zuban, A. V.; Leonov, I. I.
Halon Options Technical Working Conference.
Proceedings. HOTWC 2000. Sponsored by: University of
New Mexico, Fire Suppression Systems Assoc., Fire and
Safety Group, Great Lakes Chemical Corp., Halon
Alternative Research Corp., Hughes Associates, Inc.,
Kidde Fenwal, Inc., Kidde International, Modular
Protection, Inc., Next Generation Fire Suppression
Technology Program, Sandia National Laboratories, Summit
Environmental Corp., Inc. and 3M Specialty Materials.
May 2-4, 2000, Albuquerque, NM, 480-491 pp, 2000.
Available from:
For more information contact: Center for Global
Environmental Technologies, New Mexico Engineering
Research Institute, University of New Mexico, 901
University Blvd., SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106-4339 USA.
Telephone: 505-272-7250,
Fax: 505-272-7203. WEB:
http://nmeri.unm.edu/cget/confinfo.htm
Keywords:
halon alternatives; measuring instruments; data
analysis; calibrating; experiments; halons
Abstract:
There is a need for monitoring the concentration of
potential halon replacement chemicals with millisecond
response time. One scenario of great concern to the Air
Force is the penetration of an enemy shell into the fuel
tank of an aircraft. To prevent structural damage to the
aircraft wing or fuselage to the point where the plane
would crash, the Air Force considers it crucial that the
fire extinguishing agent be distributed throughout the
interior region surrounding the fuel tank, the so-called
dry-bay, in less than 30 ms. Other applications of
interest include evaluation of extinguishment of fires
within military tanks penetrated by shells and in ship
compartments. The instruments currently used for
monitoring the concentration of Halon 1301 are the
Statham analyzer and the Halonyzer. Each has a time
response on the order of 200 ms or longer. Clearly, they
are not capable of monitoring the distribution of the
agent in a dry-bay type environment. There is a need for
a much faster time response instrument for monitoring
the potential halon replacement chemicals. The design
goal is an instrument with a response time of 3 ms that
could be used with a variety of fire suppression agents
over a concentration range from 1 to 20% with an
expanded uncertainty of the nominal value.
