PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Engine fire warning on the ground? Evacuation?
Old 24th Sep 2010, 20:49
  #17 (permalink)  
catiamonkey
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I'm not a chemist but I was under the impression that the exact opposite was the case: the whole effectiveness of halon-like suppressants comes from their ability to interfere with combustion processes at the atomic level, once broken down by heat. The cooling/smothering effects are welcome but secondary...
I've heard that, but I've also heard that's a traditional explanation. I've been told that it appears that by having a heavy inert molecule, you get plasma interactions which suppress the flame. Check out the DARPA instant fire suppression project, it turns out we know less of fire than we thought.

The new clean agents, Novec 1230 and FM-200 don't have any bromine, iodine or chlorine and are even heavier than Halon. The former of which looks like it's going to replace airframe halon completely on the A350.
catiamonkey is offline