Recent Simulator Activity

Recent Simulator Activity • Baseline Testing • Fire testing performed during the first week of May 2000 • Agent testing performed during the third and fourth weeks of May2000 • Results/General simulation : • The air flow passing through the test section no longer attains the 400°F MPSE criteria • During past core heating trials, fuel leaked through openings in the lower portions of the core to the test bay floor due to excessively rich conditions in the core volume • The core heating burner was nozzled back from 6 gph to 2 gph to relieve the fuel leak • Air flow heating to specific temperature is difficult due to the simplicity of the simulator • Results/fire testing : • Used a heat flux transducer in a reference location within the spray fire zone to bench mark fire intensity and behavior; NOTE: this is intended for in-house reference only • Determined existing fuel nozzle array is insufficient (fuel not atomizing acceptably) • A fire is occurring outside the annular fire zone within the core volume • Electrical feeds to both hot plates damaged and require repair • Results/agent testing : • Difficulty attaining low temperature agent storage profile • Agent pressurization insufficient @70°F, 360 psig N2 top off • Agent pressurization sufficient @70°F, 600 psig N2 top off WJ Hughes Technical Center Atlantic City International Airport, NJ 08405 USA Contact : Douglas Ingerson tel : 609-485-4945

Recent Simulator Activity • Short Term Actions • Install process controller for the in-line duct heaters (week of 22May) • Characterize the new nozzle arrays for spray fire scenario (week of 29May) • Modify firex to attain colder agent storage temperatures (week of 29May) • Repair/fire-harden electrical feeds and correct fuel leak problems around the hot plates (2-6June) WJ Hughes Technical Center Atlantic City International Airport, NJ 08405 USA Contact : Douglas Ingerson tel : 609-485-4945

Recent Simulator Activity • Test Data Plots • 6 tests are provided for viewing • simulator settings and calculations for each test are provided on the next slide • a table deciphering the plot legend text references is provided • plot break down : • article test plots 411.21 and 525.12 are shown to illustrate air flow heating ability and control as of now • article test plots 502.11 and 503.11 are shown to illustrate the differences in fire behavior between conditions of ambient air/fuel and hot air/fuel • article test plots 518.10 and 518.11 illustrate the generic response of the simulator environment during an agent release • gas distribution plots 518.10 and 518.11 illustrate the distribution in the simulator • Most of this information is "gee-whiz" • The information is primarily the result of learning the simulator behavior/characteristics and bugging it out WJ Hughes Technical Center Atlantic City International Airport, NJ 08405 USA Contact : Douglas Ingerson tel : 609-485-4945

Recent Simulator Activity WJ Hughes Technical Center Atlantic City International Airport, NJ 08405 USA Contact : Douglas Ingerson tel : 609-485-4945

Recent Simulator Activity Simulator maximum heating ability @ 84 in2 open inlet WJ Hughes Technical Center Atlantic City International Airport, NJ 08405 USA Contact : Douglas Ingerson tel : 609-485-4945

Recent Simulator Activity Simulator air stream heating, via process control (84 in2) WJ Hughes Technical Center Atlantic City International Airport, NJ 08405 USA Contact : Douglas Ingerson tel : 609-485-4945

Recent Simulator Activity Fire behavior from spray nozzle array WJ Hughes Technical Center Atlantic City International Airport, NJ 08405 USA Contact : Douglas Ingerson tel : 609-485-4945

Recent Simulator Activity Typical simulator response for agent discharge WJ Hughes Technical Center Atlantic City International Airport, NJ 08405 USA Contact : Douglas Ingerson tel : 609-485-4945

Recent Simulator Activity • Channel Allocations for the Halonyzer • Forward Ring A 12:00 ch # 11 B 3:00 ch # 9 C 6:00 ch # 8 D 9:00 ch # 4 • Mid Ring E 1:30 ch # 1 F 4:30 ch # 7 G 7:30 ch # 5 H 11:30 ch # 2 • Aft Ring I 12:00 ch # 10 J 3:00 ch # 12 K 6:00 ch # 6 L 9:00 ch # 3 WJ Hughes Technical Center Atlantic City International Airport, NJ 08405 USA Contact : Douglas Ingerson tel : 609-485-4945

Recent Simulator Activity Agent discharge, HFC-125 WJ Hughes Technical Center Atlantic City International Airport, NJ 08405 USA Contact : Douglas Ingerson tel : 609-485-4945

Recent Simulator Activity • Comments • still bugging out systemic difficulties... • fuel nozzle arrays for the spray fire scenario have been modified and characterized regarding flow/pressure curves; fire test behavior requires evaluation • air flow heating • the in-line duct heaters are now controlled with a temperature process controller to provide tighter air flow heating control • the core is plumbed for 2 burners; only one is currently used, the second can be attached at a later time, if needed • to rectify agent super-cooling difficulties : • have spoken with the testing contractor at WPAFB to learn from their experiences • have additional simple modifications planned for the firex • Summary/Observations • comparison of flux plots illustrates difference in fire zone behavior with respect to air temperature (heat sink effects) • agent releases performed with HFC-125 (simulation protocol); of 5 MPSE phase I attempts, 2 were considered reviewable (agent temp for HFC-125 was -42 and -45°F => representative of Halon 1301 @ -65°F) • for the current simulator configuration, an agent weight for HFC-125 is somewhere between 3.50 and 3.75 lbm (Halon 1301 predicted to be 100/77 times that mass to achieve an MPSE-acceptable distribution profile) WJ Hughes Technical Center Atlantic City International Airport, NJ 08405 USA Contact : Douglas Ingerson tel : 609-485-4945

Recent Simulator Activity