The US shipbuilding industry currently uses a variety of fire extinguishment systems aboard its ships. These extinguishment systems include CO2, foam, halon, and water sprinklers. These fire extinguishment systems are costly to install and use, and some, such as CO2 and halon, are dangerous to operate. To improve shipbuilding affordability, the shipbuilding industry has sought to replace these fire extinguishment systems with lower cost and safer water mist fire extinguishment systems. However, the use of water mist fire extinguishment systems aboard ships has not been accepted by the various classing societies and regulatory bodies; in particular, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and the United States Coast Guard (USCG). The Phase I portion of this STTR program studied the feasibility of improving shipbuilding affordability by replacing CO2 fire extinguishment systems with water mist fire extinguishment systems. The objective of the Phase II program is to physically demonstrate that shipbuilding affordability can be improved by replacing CO2, halon, foam, and water sprinkler fire extinguishment systems with water mist fire extinguishment systems, all while USCG and ABS acceptance criteria are met. This will be demonstrated by the use of physical scaling techniques, small-scale testing, and Modified MSC 914 testing.
Benefits: It is anticipated that the successful results of this Phase II program will demonstrate that water mist fire extinguishment systems can replace CO2, foam, halon, and water sprinkler fire extinguishment systems aboard RO/RO cargo hold and machinery room ship spaces. It is expected that this replacement strategy will demonstrate that the cost of shipbuilding will decrease. It is also expected that this effort will lead to USCG and ABS acceptance and approval of water mist fire extinguishment systems for these areas aboard these ships. Additionally, once this effort is complete, it is very possible this technology can be used and implemented aboard military ships, such as retrofitting and for designing future US Naval ships.
Keywords: shipbuilding affordability CO2 water mist fire extinguishment materials