TEST OF ADVANCED FINE WATER MIST NOZZLES IN A REPRESENTATIVE SPACECRAFT ATMOSPHERE FINE WATER MIST IS BEING…

Public award description

TEST OF ADVANCED FINE WATER MIST NOZZLES IN A REPRESENTATIVE SPACECRAFT ATMOSPHERE FINE WATER MIST IS BEING CONSIDERED AS A REPLACEMENT TECHNOLOGY FOR FIRE SUPPRESSION ON THE NEXT GENERATION OF MANNED SPACECRAFT. IT OFFERS ADVANTAGES IN PERFORMANCE, EASE OF CLEANUP, COMPATIBILITY WITH ON-BOARD ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS, AND ABILITY TO RECHARGE DURING A MISSION. ADA TECHNOLOGIES HAS DESIGNED A PROTOTYPE HAND-HELD EXTINGUISHER THAT IS BEING TESTED AT AMBIENT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. IN THIS SBIR PROGRAM ADA TECHNOLOGIES PROPOSES TO ADVANCE THIS PROTOTYPE WITH A NEW DESIGN FOR A REDUCED-MOMENTUM NOZZLE TO GENERATE A FINE WATER MIST THAT CAN BE DISCHARGED INTO CONFINED AND OBSTRUCTED SPACES TO ATTACK HIDDEN FIRES AS WELL AS OPEN FIRES IN MANNED SPACECRAFT. IN PHASE I MULTIPLE NOZZLE CONCEPTS WILL BE DESIGNED, FABRICATED, AND COMPETED TO IDENTIFY THE MOST PROMISING CONCEPTS. IN ADDITION, WE WILL ADAPT A VACUUM CHAMBER AT TEAM MEMBER COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES TO EVALUATE THE ADVANCED NOZZLES AGAINST FIRES IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF 34% OXYGEN AND 7.6 PSIA TOTAL PRESSURE, REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CONDITIONS IN MANNED SPACECRAFT. THESE TESTS WILL VALIDATE THE EFFICACY OF FINE WATER MIST AT THESE NONSTANDARD ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS. PHASE I PRODUCTS WILL INCLUDE A COMPREHENSIVE SPECIFICATION FOR A BETA PROTOTYPE HAND-HELD FWM EXTINGUISHER THAT INCORPORATES THE BEST ADVANCED REDUCED MOMENTUM NOZZLE. IN PHASE II WE WILL CARRY THE BETA PROTOTYPE DESIGN FORWARD TO TESTING IN MICROGRAVITY AND DEVELOP A PLAN FOR FLIGHT QUALIFICATION OF THE HARDWARE. WE WILL WORK WITH A PARTNER EXPERIENCED IN THE PRODUCTION AND QUALIFICATION OF FLIGHT TEST FIXTURES AND EXPERIMENTS. ADA WILL PARTNER WITH A COMMERCIAL SUPPLIER OF FIRE PROTECTION EQUIPMENT TO TAKE THIS TECHNOLOGY INTO THE BROADER COMMERCIAL MARKETPLACE, TARGETING AEROSPACE AND FLAMMABLE FUELS STORAGE AS EARLY MARKET SEGMENTS.