FINE WATER MIST SYSTEM FOR REPLACEMENT OF HALON 1301 FIRE EXTINGUISHER SYSTEMS

U.S. production of Halons will decrease from 28 million lbs in 1988 to zero in 1995 to meet the U.S. commitments to the Montreal Protocol. A major use of Halon 1301 is as a fire suppression flooding agent. The use of fine water mists from two-fluid atomizing nozzles is proposed as a replacement for Halon 1301 fire suppression systems, especially for Class B fuel fires. The optimum droplet size and atomizer water flow rate will be determined in the Phase I research. Several candidate atomizers will be tested against a standard n-heptane fire in a test chamber. Spray droplet size and water application rates will be varied over a range determined by modeling of the evaporation rate of the droplets. Requirements for a fire suppression atomizer nozzle will be prepared, based on the test results. In Phase II, a prototype fire suppression system will be designed, built, and tested on typical Air Force Class B fires. A specification for fine water mist fire suppression systems to replace existing Halon 1301 systems will be based on these Phase II tests.