The lightweight foam generators are hung directly in the supply pipes and reduce the weight on the roof; the pipes are not under pressure and water is not stored in the pipework – again reducing the weight on the roof; they have no moving parts and so cause minimal maintenance disruption in the hanger. Figure 2 shows how the hangar might accommodate different aircraft. The results of the fire detection evaluation have been combined with false alarm immunity criteria into a new optical detector performance specification for Navy aircraft hangars. Its wide field of view enables large areas to be monitored although points of particular danger can be focused upon. MSIR detectors currently dominate aircraft hangar installations, however, MSIR performance can be bettered using alternative optical flame detection technologies. A regional FBO hangar might price out at $150,000 and a commercial jet airliner hangar might be worth a few Fundamentals In a typical Aircraft Hangar there are four fundamen-tal functions that the optical flame detection system should deliver:- Provide full coverage of the aircraft hangar. At the end of the test the mean depth of the foam blanket was 1.2 metres, equating to 0.9 metres-a-minute. This inexpensive and reliable type of deluge system has several significant advantages over other hanger firefighting systems. Aircraft hangar fire detection and protection systems are critical to protect the contents of the hangar and the facility itself. Focusing only on fire safety and the fire protection it provides users with the latest news, information on products, regulations, and compliance on all areas of life safety. The system simultaneously delivers a foam blanket across the hanger’s entire 50-metre by 50-metre floor area at the rate of 0.85 metres-a-minute or 0.3 metres in 21 seconds, which FM Global tests show is sufficient to suppress a fuel spill fire. This ensures that the VSD system will detect smoke escaping from any aircraft doors or appearing above wing level from a fire lower down. A fleet of five Navy attack F/A-18s is undergoing maintenance and modifications in a hangar in north Florida. The manual control buttons were tested to ensure that the foam discharge could be stopped and started manually. �Bq����w�����mh��Ʈ��`mh���K����؆lV�������>U}����z�� �.+K�����!^��}���6�_b�� Gs��ݚ|w��/=i��,���C�T���IM>�&�&�o��$e��x��j��yF��k��W��*5+��Z��1]�LC�｝3�?ԟU��O��H,do��#9 ,�l�t$���`K�`Gv`δ�i=ك��w�y^�W�5y ����������������+��������������9�9¬ +� Aircraft hangars can contain hundreds of thousands of pounds, or even millions of pounds worth of equipment, which means that the consequences of a fire could be financially devastating. Aircraft maintenance activities include several potential ignition sources. Discharge of the foam ceases as soon as fewer than two flame detectors no longer register the presence of a fire. Specific fire protection requirements are based on the hangar group as defined in NFPA 409. Traditional smoke and heat detection systems are intended to provide protection for the hangar structure. These fire pumps are stopped manually. However, in the unlikely event that the fire again breaks out, the manual controls enable the discharge to be recommenced immediately. The It is discharged from 36 high-level generators supported off the steel structure’s trusses. Visual Smoke Detection identifies danger early. So much so that when Brisbane-based aviation supplier, Five Star Aviation, appointed international hanger construction specialist, Bettabuilt, to build a new 2500 square metre hangar at Brisbane Airport it took advice from Brisbane-based fire engineering consultants, Fire Engineering Solutions. With aircraft getting larger, hangars are also getting larger. Optical flame detec… The airport is also home to a fast growing list of leading aviation service providers and several additional hangers have recently been built or are under construction along the airport’s eastern perimeter. VSD provides the early warning detection of smoke to allow manual activation of the foam suppression extinguishing systems’, if required. The system was designed to flood the hanger at the rate of 0.85 metres-a-minute with the hanger doors closed. Historically, heat and smoke detectors have played the pivotal role in fire detection systems in hangars. High value aircraft demand the best fire detection technology. This allowance for leakage through the hanger doors and other openings varies according to the depth of the foam blanket, which could be as high as 12 to 13 metres after 15 minutes. The NFPA 409 code standard has four different categories: Group 1 – Aircraft bay exceeds 40,000ft2 with a hangar door taller than 28′ Group 2 – Aircraft bay between 12,000ft2 and 40,000ft2 with a … With a fire zone of approximately 5,500 m 2 and room for aircraft having a tail height greater than 28ft, this hangar would be classed as a Group 1 hangar. In lofty, extensive, structures such as aircraft hangars there is a high reliance, where traditional fire detection solutions are concerned, in smoke overcoming distance, stratification and temperature layering, before being detected. Aircraft hangar fire detection and protection systems are critical to protect the contents of the hangar and the facility itself. endstream endobj 31 0 obj <>stream Without warning, the airplane hangar fire suppression system is activatedand discharges its high-expansion fire-retardant foam onto the aircraft below. They are configured so that the second pump will start within five seconds if the first pump fails to start. The primary location of a fire would be from a leak from a tank in the fuselage of the aircraft. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. The minimum design criteria required by NFPA 11 is 0.3 metres a minute with the hanger doors open. For example, in addition to normal brigade isolation, a switch has been included to close the foam concentrate valve to ensure foam is not discharged during maintenance tests. N. SSPC Paint 25 - (1997; E 2004) Zinc Oxide, Alkyd, Linseed Oil Primer for Use Over Hand Cleaned Steel, To satisfy Brisbane Airport Corporation’s environmental directive that no pollutants should be allowed to escape from the hanger, the hanger floor slopes towards a drain at the hanger door. There have also recently been several instances around the world where there have been unnecessary or excessive discharges of foam that have caused costly damage to aircraft and the unacceptable release of foam into the environment. The FIREKILL Model F102-1 is a low-pressure water mist telescopic pop-up nozzle specially developed for the protection of aircraft hangars. However, for this test, the fire pan had been slightly elevated above floor level and positioned in the most challenging position for detection and extinguishing, so it took a little longer to extinguish the fire in the pan. The foam spreads horizontally better than foam from fan-driven generators that deliver higher expansion ratios, and an effective blanket is formed quicker with high-expansion foam than with either low-expansion or medium-expansion foams or AFFF foams. Fire protection codes like NFPA 409, military standards, insurance companies and author - ities having jurisdiction (AHJs) may require or strongly recommend a high-performance fire detection and suppression system to pro - tect aircraft assets, the hangar structure and However, the activation of the first detector raises the alarm both internally and at the airport’s ARFF control centre. Net Safety UV/IRS Advantages The UV/IRS flame detector is well suited for providing early warning of flames in aircraft hangers. Large quantities of liquid jet fuel are present. Indeed, the low water content of high-expansion foam makes its use very attractive to environmentalists and others concerned with water management. Hangar applications are a difficult environment in which to provide detection because of the sudden changes introduced when hangar doors open and close to the outside. This has resulted in a policy coming into force at Brisbane Airport that dictates that hangars will be approved only if their design prevents the release to the environment of any pollutants spilled inside the hanger – including fuel spills, contamin… Smoke emissions are reduced and fire ventilation is unnecessary. Further s… Speed of response was also a critical consideration if damage to aircraft was to be minimised. Four manual control stations are positioned adjacent to fire exits and these can be used to either start or stop the foam discharge, as can the control station in the fire pump house located alongside the hanger. The high value contents of aircraft hangars demand the best fire detection solutions and protection. Within 14 second of the deluge commencing, foam discharge had started from all 36 generators. Aircraft can sustain damage in less than a minute when exposed to fire, 1 but the high expansion foam systems that are used to protect them in the event of a hangar fire can take more than two minutes to fill the hangar and suffocate fires near the top of even relatively small aircraft. Aircraft Hangars. A level indicator switch is incorporated to monitor the level of the liquid in the Five Star Aviation tank; when the capacity remaining approaches the 49 cubic metres required for a 15-minute foam discharge level a sounder indicates that the tank needs to be pumped out. Fire Safety Search- The complete industry solutions guide to the fire protection of assets and life. They can vary from simple "shade" structures that protect all or parts of the aircraft from the elements to complicated environmentally controlled maintenance facilities in which robots apply radar absorbing coatings. When it comes to aircraft hangar fire detection, there are a number of standards, certification and regulatory agencies to satisfy. H��W�n��}�W�S@+��[ �-9`� �$[�(�dG���~}��lRҬ v=���S�N]�]����W_~��4Oǫ/ww����w�q]U�t����ޙ��՟�?�]��]�eOc�����r��#feQ����7.�i��kӔ��M��I�t�sn��.��lc���e��m���E�m����ma���{�ݛ��p���~�]��߯���>���� �+r�p��+י�. The aircraft hangar is approximately 90 m wide, 80 m deep in the centre, and 50 m deep at the sides with a 23 m ceiling. The foam is proportioned from special high-expansion concentrate and requires less than 1000 litres of concentrate to operate the system for 15 minutes. Fire detection and suppression in aircraft hangars has always been a major concern for the aircraft MRO industry. VSD offers a solution that identifies potential fire incidents at source. This application is a challenging place for flame detectors to operate correctly. Optical flame detectors have recognized utility in improving the performance of fire suppression systems in aircraft hangars and protecting the extremely expensive assets inside them. It does not rely on smoke reaching detectors. By their nature aircraft hangars pose unique challenges for the fire protection engineer. K. NFPA 72 – (2013) National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code . National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 409 Standard on Aircraft Hangars, in conjunction with... False Alarms Plague Hangars. Aircraft or spacecraft are often stored in hangars to protect them from the elements and create a safe and suitable environment for routine maintenance. Indeed, Qantas has recently announced that it was adding to its Brisbane maintenance facility as work is transferred from Melbourne. Aircraft hangars present special fire protection problems due entirely to the nature of their contents. Unifire's FlameRanger Fully Automatic Fire Detection & Suppression System is the world's most advanced firefighting robot. When the deluge system is periodically tested, all tests are carried out with air to avoid unnecessary foam discharge. Even so, sufficient foam concentrate is held in the system to continue discharging throughout the hangar for 15 minutes, at which time the discharge is stopped automatically. This has resulted in a policy coming into force at Brisbane Airport that dictates that hangars will be approved only if their design prevents the release to the environment of any pollutants spilled inside the hanger – including fuel spills, contaminated water and foam. However, once a fire has been extinguished, unnecessarily discharging more firefighting agent is costly, clean-up is more extensive, disruptive and time consuming, and containing the excessive foam adds to the cost and challenge of containment and disposal. L. NFPA 409 – (2016) Standard on Aircraft Hangars . Additionally, the low water content of the foam will help prevent penetration of aircraft interior surfaces or into concealed spaces beneath the floor. For further information, go to www.fire-engineer.com and www.deltafire.com.au, Sign up to the FREE Fire Safety Search Newsletter, Fire Safety Search is the complete industry solutions guide to the fire protection of assets and life. State-of-the-art high value aircraft, with expensive electronics and large fuel loads, present new challenges for fast reliable fire detection and suppression sys-tems. Brisbane Airport is Australia’s fastest growing airport with, according to Airservices Australia, currently 37,608 movements and more than 21 million passengers a year. This compares with traditional hanger fire protection systems that would require tanks with capacities of between 300 cubic metres and 500 cubic metres. Durasteel fire protection is often cited as an insurance requirement for aircraft hangars, with the mitigation of risk allowing your aircraft and facility to be insured more cheaply. Such is the system’s simplicity that just three indicators and only two types of push button are required for operation. Aircraft hangars are commonly referred to as "glorified garages" for airplanes. To test the sensitivity and reliability of the triple infra-red flame detectors, a small fire pan was lit on the floor near the middle of the hanger. Aircraft Hangars UFC 4 -211-01 › Air Force › ET02-15 – Fire Protection Engineering Criteria for Aircraft Maintenance, Servicing and Storage Facilities. Considerable care has evidently gone into the design to simplify maintenance and operability. These features combine to deliver an extremely cost-efficient solution and one, in the designers’ view, that is the least-cost option for hanger protection. H�\��n�@���{�\D�;�H�D�"mU�0�B-����޾s|�T�%��?3�3���n��ɕ?����N}�r���Fw��>��u};}������Ҋ��/�t��v�O�y���=l����{�b���=��]y���G��4��[�]O���5��ʹ�i���~�?YͿ'~����|I�v��ulژ�t�E��c��7;�EL����e�S���E]�����g�3xKނ_ɯ�7�5�W˙m1ސ7ƞ�=��y�d����`:x8��xGށ�����*r���@`��o`��,Bg���VP+t8������B���_�/|���)�"�"�"�"��(s)r)�nʌ��JO���S��Tx*�nJ�����C�9 �j�5��-g�y������)~�;�atV�O�W� �A�4 And as the value of the aircraft being worked on in those hangars has continually increased, the value of the hangars themselves has become secondary to the aircraft within them. Hanger fire protection has been under the spotlight for some time by hanger owners and tenants, insurers of aircraft using the facilities and from Australia’s federally-run airport authorities. Significantly, this means that the solution uses just one percent of the water that would be used by a comparable foam monitor installation. Asia Pacific Fire’s editor, Graham Collins, recently witnessed a system being commissioned at a new hangar at Brisbane Airport – a “first” in Australia -that may well be destined to become the aviation industry’s preferred solution. The MRO facilities that support U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy and National Guard aircraft need to accommodate some additional factors not usually seen in commercial hangars, such as: Detector placement issues for rotorcraft.Helicopters present special challenges for fire detection equipment because they are both low to the ground and tall. The foam deluge system controls are separate from the fire alarm system to ensure the maximum operational availability of both systems. Traditionally, hangers, or to be more precise, the expensive aviation assets they house, are protected by either an AFFF deluge system or oscillating foam monitors. A full-scale commissioning test was carried out in November, which was witnessed by both Brisbane Fire & Rescue and the airports ARFF personnel. Aircraft Hangars High-performance systems that detect heat or flames and actuate fire suppression systems are essential to safeguard human life, assets and hangar structures. It was project managed by Fire Engineering Solutions and the equipment was supplied by Delta Fire Australasia. 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The Armed Services have developed definitive designs for hangar f… These factors along with the many potential It is also a central hub for aircraft maintenance, hosting major maintenance facilities for both Virgin Blue and Qantas. At normal sensitivity settings the detectors will operate within three-to-five seconds in response to a typical fuel spill fire. The cause of activation remains undetermined. Australia is a country where water is a scarce commodity and securing water supplies and using water wisely are high priorities. tion of fires in Aircraft Hangars through the supply of detection systems to hangars across the globe. Hanger fire protection has been under the spotlight for some time by hanger owners and tenants, insurers of aircraft using the facilities and from Australia’s federally-run airport authorities. Cost effectiveness and ease of maintenance were also major considerations for the solution’s designers. Copyright © 2021 Marcus Media Limited. These solutions are not without serious shortcomings; in particular their lack of speed in extinguishing a typical hanger fire and the excessive amount of water used. NFPA 409, standard on Aircraft Hangars, requires the primary fire suppression agent for aircraft hangars to be foam. �¬ +�ʘeGAGaGAGaGAGy ?��W�W�W�W�W�W�W�׳�G_ώ===<===<=��K�j��%ƴ������k���;��7)�;�` n+�$ Generally speaking, the fire protection options for fueled aircraft hangars’ service and storage areas for Group I and II hangars are the following: Foam-water deluge system, with supplementary protection systems under single aircraft wing areas over 3000 ft 2 (279 m 2 ). When this occurred, the flame detectors stopped registering the presence of a fire and the foam discharge ceased. Other essential requirements included the need for the overall hanger fire protection solution to facilitate ARFF (Airport Rescue & Fire Fighting) and QFRS (Queensland Fire & Rescue) operations and compliance with the Australian Building Code.