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Study of Explosion Protection in a Small Compartment

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Abstract

A series of full-scale explosion suppression experiments were conducted in a compartment. The suppression performance of three extinguishing systems with two suppressants for the deflagration-type explosion was studied. The impact of agent discharge direction, the presence of an obstacle and the use of additives on suppression performance were investigated with extensive data collection and analysis. The negative aspects and toxicity issues associated with the protection systems are also addressed in the paper. The three extinguishing systems evaluated in this project were a high pressure HFC-227ea (FM-200) extinguisher, a hybrid gas generator with FM-200, and a hybrid gas generator with water, with full-system hardware including optical flame sensors and electronic controllers. The experimental results showed that the explosion in a compartment originating from a fuel spray was a serious threat to any occupant in the compartment and could cause major damage to equipment, but, the explosion generated in the experiments was controlled or extinguished by appropriate extinguishing systems.

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Acknowledgments

Authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of Drs. Malgosia Kanabus-Kaminska and Joseph Su in operating the FTIR apparatus and analyzing the gas measurement data. Authors would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Mr. Cameron McCartney in the planning of the experiment, and Mr. Michael Ryan in setting up and instrumenting the test compartment. The assistance of General Dynamics by providing the necessary hardware for the extinguishing systems is greatly appreciated. Special appreciation goes to Mr. Paul Wierenga and Mr. Gary Gregg of General Dynamics for their assistance in setting-up the extinguishing systems and their controllers during the experiments. This study was conducted under the Halon Alternatives Performance Evaluation Program, a joint research project between the Department of National Defence and the National Research Council of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fire Research Program, Institute for Research in Construction, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0R6, Canada

    Andrew Kim, Zhigang Liu & George Crampton

Authors
  1. Andrew Kim
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  2. Zhigang Liu
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  3. George Crampton
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew Kim.

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Kim, A., Liu, Z. & Crampton, G. Study of Explosion Protection in a Small Compartment. Fire Technol 43, 145–172 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-007-0008-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-007-0008-6

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