SBIR-STTR Award

In an effort to improve shipbuilding affordability, the shipbuilding industry has sought to replace CO2 fire extinguishment systems with water mist fire extinguishment systems. The advantages of this change are numerous, and include a range from dollar savings to increased safety. However, the American Bureau of Shipping and the US Coast Guard, the regulatory bodies, have not identified this change as an "equivalence". A program, which would most likely include testing, modeling, and analysis, would need to be implemented to demonstrate this "equivalence". This Phase I program is designed to identify exactly what work will need to be performed to achieve this objective.

Benefits:
Water mist fire extinguishment systems are less costly to install and maintain than CO2 fire extinguishment systems. U.S. ship builders and owners will benefit from this cost savings up front, as well as during the life of the ship. Once the "equivalency" of water mist and CO2 fire extinguishment systems is demonstrated, then all U.S. ship builders (for both, commercial and military ships) will have the option of installing water mist fire extinguishment systems.

Keywords:
shipbuilding affordability CO2 water mist fire extinguishment materials shipbuilding affordability CO2 water mist fire extinguishment materials

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