article

Does new Fluorine Free firefighting foam MilSpec deliver equivalent life-saving performance under increasingly severe climatic conditions?

Posted: 30 October 2023 | | No comments yet

Mike Willson, a firefighting foam and foam systems specialist investigates whether a new F3 MilSpec for land-based freshwater aviation-use applications is functional enough to keep passengers safe.

References

  1. US Military Specification MIL-PRF-32725, 2023 – Performance Specification, Fire Extinguishing Agent – Fluorine Free Foam (F3) Liquid Concentrate for Land-Based, Freshwater applications, 6Jan.2023 https://media.defense.gov/2023/Jan/12/2003144157/-1/-1/1/MILITARY-SPECIFICATION-FOR-FIRE-EXTINGUISHING-AGENT-FLUORINE-FREE-FOAM-F3-LIQUID-CONCENTRATE-FOR-LAND-BASED-FRESH-WATER-APPLICATIONS.PDF
  2. US Military Specification MiL-PRF-24385F(SH) Amendment 4, 2020 – Fire Extinguishing Agent, Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) Liquid Concentrate, for fresh and Seawater, 7April 2020 https://quicksearch.dla.mil/Transient/D1698E19636543EABB1FB936AB3D69FB.pdf
  3. ICAO (international Civil Aviation Organization), 2015 – Airport Service Manual Doc 9137- AN/898 Part 1, Rescue and Fire Fighting 4th Edition , relevant Chapters 8 , 10,12, https://ufuav.asn.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/operations-manual.pdf
  4. European Commission (EC) Cordis Sep.2014 – Fire risks assessment and increase of passenger survivability AIRCRAFTFIRE Report ID:265612 https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/265612/reporting
  5. The Guardian, 19Jul.2022 – UK reaches hottest ever temperature as 40.2oC recorded at Heathrow [London airport] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/19/uk-weather-record-hottest-day-ever-heatwave
  6. New York Times, 10Jan.2023 – The last 8 years were the hottest on record https://www.nytimes.com/interractive/2023/climate/earth-hottest-years.html
  7. Wang K, Peng X, et al, Jan.2023 – Decreased Aircraft Take-off Performance Under Global Warming https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366853675_Decreased_Aircraft_Takeoff_Performance_under_Global_Warming
  8. US Naval Research Laboratory (Conroy & Anath), 2015 – Fuel surface cooling by Aqueous Foam: A Pool Fire Suppression Mechanism https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274737638_Fuel_Surface_Cooling_by_Aqueous_Foam_A_Pool_Fire_Suppression_Mechanism
  9. US Naval Research Laboratory (Conroy, Fleming & Anath), 2017 – Surface Cooling of a Pool Fire by Aqueous Foams https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311732795_Surface_Cooling_of_a_Pool_Fire_by_Aqueous_Foams
  10. FAA (Scheffey,Darwin and Hunt), 2012 – Methodologies for Calculating Firefighting Agent Quantities Needed to Combat Aircraft Crash Fires Report DOT/FAA/A11/29 http://www.tc.faa.gov/its/worldpac/techrpt/ar11-29.pdf
  11. US Naval Research Laboratory (Hinnant et al) 2017 – Influence of fuel on foam degradation for fluorinated and fluorine-free foams https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314107949_Influence_of_fuel_on_foam_degradation_for_fluorinated_and_fluorine-free_foams
  12. US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL-Snow, Hinnant et al), 2019 – Fuel for Firefighting Foam Evaluations: Gasoline v Heptane, NRL/MR/6123—19-9895 https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1076690.pdf
  13. US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL – Hinnant, Snow, Ananth et al), Nov. 2019 – “Characterising role of Fluorocarbon and Hydrocarbon Surfactants in Firefighting Foams for Fire Suppression” https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10694-019-00932-7
  14. US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL – Hinnant, Ananth, Farley, Snow et al) – May 2020 – Extinction Performance Summary of Commercial Fluorine Free Firefighting Foams over a 28ft2 Pool Fire Detailed by MIL-PRF-24385, Report NRL/MR/6185-20-10, 031 https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1100426.pdf
  15. US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL – Hinnant, Ananth, Farley, Snow et al) – May 2020 – Extinction Performance Summary of Commercial Fluorine Free Firefighting Foams over a 28ft2 Pool Fire Detailed by MIL-PRF-24385, Report NRL/MR/6185-20-10, 031 https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1100426.pdf
  16. NFPA 403:2018 Standard for Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Services at Airports https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=403
  17. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) of America, Research Foundation, 2020 – “Evaluation of the fire protection effectiveness of fluorine free firefighting foams”, https://www.iafc.org/docs/default-source/1safehealthshs/effectivenessofflourinefreefoam.pdf
  18. Air BP, Mar.2021 – Jet A1 Safety Data Sheet skyfuel.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Jet-A-1-Australia-SDS.pdf
  19. ICAO, 2022 – Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP), Doc. 10004, 2023-2025 https://www.icao.int/safety/GASP/Pages/Home.aspx

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Send this to a friend