AIRCRAFT CARGO FIRE SUPPRESSION USING LOW PRESSURE DUAL FLUID WATER MIST AND HYPOXIC AIR ABSTRACT

Water mist is gaining acceptance as a substitute for gaseous fire suppression agents worldwide. In commercial aircraft applications the FAA/CAA have adopted a Minimum Performance Standard (MPS) [1] testing protocol for alternative fire suppression agents based on the level of safety obtained from full scale experiments using HALON 1301. This paper will discuss the full scale testing and experiments used to research design a novel system that exceeds the MPS using low pressure dual fluid (LPDF) water mist and FirePASS Hypoxic Air. Using available or existing resources on commercial aircraft for fire protection is a novel concept. A new effective fire suppression technology that will not add weight or add new systems to maintain is attractive to operators of an already cash strapped airline industry. Aircraft system designers have always remained within their professional or assigned discipline when working on new designs. Fire suppression, propulsion, environmental control, interior design engineers have always met their individual requirements. Interactions between sub systems has only been interfaced in the overall aircraft requirements of weight, volume and the impact of overall aircraft performance specifications, i.e.: range, fuel consumption and passenger comfort. Integration of these individual systems in the past has only been from a fire and safety standpoint to meet the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) requirements