Fire Prevention technique in aircraft and ship
Fire Protection technique in aircraft
In this post we will be looking at the fire protection system that is installed in an aircraft's engine the APU cargo compartments, cabin and the avionics compartment
When and Where Fires can Occur?
In an aircraft a fire may occur in flight because of some fault in critical system on the aircraft it could also occur post crash if an oil or fuel line gets ruptured and ignited during the crash in case of fire, which occurred post crash the fire protection system on the aircraft will not be helpful, but in case in the fire occured in flight the fire protection system can assist in extinguishing the fire and help in landing the aircraft safely an in-flight fire may occur in the engines or the APU. The cabin the compartment or the avionics compartment.
What can cause Engine Fire?
First, let's see what can cause an engine fire. Components of the aircraft an engine fire may occur because of a leak from the fuel line causing the fuel to spill into the engine, it could also be because of an oil leak into the engine, An engine stall may also lead to a fire because the fuel air ratio gets affected and more fuel enters the combustion chamber. High engine vibration may also result in a fire as it may cause a repture in the fuel or the oil supply lines.
How to Identify Engine Fire?
In case of an engine fire flames or smoke will be visible from the cabin. The engine will have fire detectors installed on it, Which will trigger oral and visual alerts in the cockpit so that the crew take corrective action immediately with the help of the fire protection system so let's see how to control and Engine Fire with fire protection system.
How to Control an Engine Fire?
Usually there are two fire extinguisher bottles that are installed to control an engine fire in case of an engine fire that the first step that needs to be done is shutdown the engine, the crew then needs to wait for the engine's shaft speed to reduce and then discharge the agent from one of the fire extinguishers these extinguishers will have electrically activated squibs that allow the agent to be discharged into the engine this extinguisher should be able to control the fire but if the fire was not extinguished then the second extinguished should be no longer available for the remainder of the flight after some time this engine will be no longer available for the remainder of the flight let's see what happens in case of a APU fire.
What happens in case of APU Fire?
In case of fire in the APU it will not be visible from the cabin there are alerts, which trigger in the cockpit for the crew to take action the crew needs to shutdown the APU, then discharge the extinguishing agent after a few seconds normally only one fire extinguisher bottle will be installed to control an APU fire.
How to handle fire in Cargo Compartments?
The cargo compartments usually an aircraft will have two cargo compartments, In case of a fire in these compartments alerts are triggered in the cockpit the fire will also result in smoke inside the cabin the alerts are triggered by smoke detectors, data installed in the cargo compartments usually one or two separate fire extinguisher bottles are available that discharge the extinguishing agent through nozzles that are fitted in cargo compartment. Smoke in and aircraft may also be because of a fire inside the aircraft cabin.
How to handle Fire in Cabin?
In case of a fire inside the no alerts will be triggered the cockpit crew should be informed by the cabin crew about the fire in the cabin the crew will have portable fire extinguishers that will be used to suppress the fire usually the cabins are designed to provide passive fire protection this means that the fire retardant materials will be used inside the cabin to prevent the spread of fire.
How to handle Fire in Avionics Bay?
This fire may occur because of a short circuit in any of the installed computers or wires smoke detectors in the avionics bay detect the smoke and trigger alerts in the cockpit in the avionics bay, there are no fire extinguishers as they may cause more harm to all the computers and wires now the crew has to shed the electrical load on the aircraft and ensure that only the essential uses are supplied and land as soon as possible, so that's all for my post on the fire protection system in aircraft.
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