AIRCRAFT FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS

Fire Triangle The three essential elements which are necessary for a fire to be sustained oxygen, heat, and fuel. If one or more of these elements is removed then the fire will extinguish.

Onboard fire protection systems designed to extinguish fires which occur either in the air or on the ground.
Four types of fire extinguishing installations are found on commercial transport aircraft. a) Portable Extinguishers installed at specified locations in both the main cabin and the flight deck b) Hold fire extinguishing systems (with automatic detection) c) Engine fire bottle extinguishing systems (with automatic detection) d) Toilet waste bin bottle extinguishing systems

Fire on the aircraft is one of the main reasons for disastrous flight accidents in peace time and destruction of aircraft under combat conditions. The probable reasons for fire on the aircraft are :a) Leakage of fuel, oil, and hydraulic systems b) Abnormal engine operation and destruction of its parts c) Defects of aircraft electrical equipment d) Forced landing that leads to destruction of its parts e) Effect of enemy fire in combat

Most fire hazardous places are the fuel tanks compartment, engine nacelles, cabins where many of electrical equipment units and hydraulic system pipelines is located.
The fire protection ( safety ) system serves to Warn Detect and Extinguish fire

Fire protection system should meet the following requirements :a) well-timed detection of fire or its symptoms. b) Well-timed warning and distinguishing of actual symptoms from false ones c) High efficiency of fire fighting means d) Absence of toxic gas liberation when extinguishing of fire

Nowadays method of extinguishing and warning of fire based on properties of neutral gases and vapours of fire extinguishing fluids to create a medium which does not support burning around fire location. Requirement the extinguishant should meet are as follows :a) Minimum fire extinguishing concentration that is minimum per cent content of fire-extinguishing gases and vapours in the air medium sufficient to create the medium which does not support burning.

b) sufficiently high rate of evaporation of liquid agents at low temperatures. c) chemical neutrality to structural and equipment materials d) non toxicity e) possibility of using fire extinguishants in all flight conditions within a wide ambient temperature range.

The fire extinguishants listed below are used on aircraft. Carbon Dioxide CO2 It has relatively low efficiency as a fire- extinguishing agent. Its fire-extinguishing concentration is 25%. The advantages of CO2 stability at storage, corrosion prevention, ability to decrease the ambient temperature.

The disadvantages loss of efficiency at low temperature causing reduction of pressure in the bottles. At temperature of - 78 C (200 K) and atmospheric pressure it solidifies. Thus the use of it requires special heating . With temperature rise the pressure of it in bottles increases which necessiate a safety valve

Extinguishant 3.5 Its efficiency 3.5 times that of CO2. Its fire-extinguishing concentration 6.6% Its composition includes in per cent by weight Ethyl bromide (C2H5Br) 70% CO2 30%

It is toxic and causes corrosion of aluminium and magnesium alloys. It is used in a limited scale

Extinguishant 7
has efficiency 7 times as CO2 and 2 times as 3.5 Its concentration is 3.3% It is based on methylene bromide (CH2Br2) 80% and Ethyl bromide (C2H5Br) 20% by weight. It is toxic and chemically active than 3.5 liquid It is used in a limited scale

Freon 114 B2
It is halogenated hydrocarbon of the ethane row. It is heavy colourless liquid operating within a wide temperature range -110 to + 45 C. It is very efficient Its concentration is 3.47% It does not react with aluminium and magnesium alloys. Low toxicity Widely used in modern aircraft

Halons are fire extinguishing agents which are gaseous when discharged in the aircraft environment and are electrically non-conducting. Halons are in almost universal use in aircraft fire extinguishers, both portable and fixed. They exist in two forms Halon 1211, BromoChlorodiFluoromethane (CBrClF2)also sometimes known as BCF, and Halon 1301, Bromotrifluoromethane (CBrF3). Halon 1211 is used only in portable extinguishers and is a streaming agent Halon 1301 is used only in fixed extinguisher installations and is a total flooding agent.

6
2 3 4 7 5

Schematic diagram of extinguishing system 1 bottle 2- discharge bonner 3- distribution valve 4- sprayer 5- thermal warning 6- switch 7- warning lamp

Reference to the above figure when fire occurs thermal warning device (5) operates and closes the circuit of the starting devices of distribution valve (3 ) and discharge bonnet (2) of bottle 1. Under the pressure of air or its vapour the extinguishing agent rapidly expelled through the pipes to sprayer (4). The liquid evaporate quickly, mixes with the air and forms a medium which does not support burning.

The temperature in the fire zone decreases due to evaporation of the liquid and fire will be supressed. When the thermal warning device (5) is cut in lamp (7) illuminates in the pilots console to warn of fire in the given compartment.

Detection and Protection

There is fire detection and protection in the engines, auxiliary power unit (if installed) and cargo compartments of modern transports aircraft. Smoke detectors are installed in lavatories with automatic fire extinguishers in the waste bins. But other parts of the aircraft are unprotected. In the unprotected areas detection of a fire depends upon the flight-crew. Smell is usually the first indication of a fire or potential fire. Once the odour is detected, it can be difficult to locate the source. Locating the source is made more difficult by the high air exchange rate in the cabin of a jetliner.

Locating the source is made more difficult by the high air exchange rate in the cabin of a jetliner. The air is exchanged once every two or three minutes, on average with all air conditioning packs operating. This causes rapid dilution of the smoke and dispersal throughout the cabin. This exchange rate can be reduced significantly as a flight crew shuts off recirculating fans and/or air conditioning packs during the Smoke/Fire/Fume checklists. Increasing the number of detectors would help in the early detection of smoke/fire/fumes and help pinpoint the