Universal Fire Suppressant Nozzle

ABSTRACT: Engineering & Scientific Innovations, Inc. (ESI) has an extensive background in aircraft survivability and vulnerability reduction and has specific experience in the fundamental understanding of the fire suppressant transport phenomena in highly cluttered spaces such as engine nacelles and dry bays. This opportunity allows for the development of a unique smart nozzle technology which could be used to retrofit current systems in legacy aircraft as well as compliment the design of new suppression systems in future aircraft. By incorporating an optical fire location device with a proprietary discharge nozzle, the newly developed smart nozzle will be capable of locating a fire and discharging agent directly at the fire zone within 100 ms of receiving an external detection signal. This smart nozzle will thereby increase the overall efficiency of the suppression system by increasing the coverage area of a single nozzle, reducing the number of nozzles required and decreasing the amount of agent required to extinguish a fire, all while reducing collateral damage to nearby areas not effected by the fire. BENEFIT: The proposed smart fire suppression nozzle offers a method of increasing the effectiveness of halon replacement fire suppression systems for DoD and commercial aircraft platforms by achieving higher agent transport efficiencies to fire regions. This smart nozzle will allow retrofit of legacy systems as well as integration into future fire suppression systems. Furthermore, due to its universal nature, the nozzle is expected to be easily marketable to several additional industries including but not limited to the following: ground vehicle suppression systems (military and commercial), building fire protection systems, solid propellant gas generation fire suppression systems, and electronic/computer equipment rooms. This multi-use marketability increases commercialization of the final product and decreases the cost per unit, especially for DoD applications.