Diode Laser Measurements of HF Concentrations Produced from Heptane/Air Pan Fires Extinguished by FE-36,FM-200,FE-36 Plus APP,or FM-200 Plus APP

Abstract

Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) is used to measure the time evolution of hydrogen fluoride (HF) concentrations produced from a series of enclosed heptane/air pan fires extinguished by either FE-36, FM-200, FE-36 plus ammonium poly-phosphate (APP), or FM-200 plus APP. For the fires studied, the change in HF gas concentration with time is dependent upon the fire-fighting chemical used to extinguish the re. The presence of APP is observed to reduce HF concentrations in the re enclosure. Visible attenuation spectroscopy is also used to measure the amount of light attenuation (obscuration) that occurs as a hand-held re extinguisher containing powdered fire fighting agent is released in the crew space of a M1-Abrams land combat vehicle.