Challenges for the development of EFFICIENT - An Environmentally Friendly Fire Suppression System for Cargo using Innovative Green Technology

Halons have been used in aircraft as fire suppression agents since the first integrated fire suppression systems were introduced in aircraft. However, research in the mid 1970’s discovered that halon gasses contribute substantially to the depletion of the Ozone layer, so in 1994 the Montreal Protocol banned it usage in all industries, excluding the Aerospace and Defence. However, halon is now no longer manufactured and existing stocks are becoming depleted. In the EU Horizon2020 Cleansky2 - ‘Cargo fire suppression system project’ EFFICIENT, an international consortium, including London South Bank University (LSBU), is investigating the potential of alternative fire suppression agents to eliminate the impact of halon on the environment (via ozone depletion) and develop a knockdown fire suppression system that can be employed in the design of new EU commercial aircraft e.g. Airbus. The impact of the research will be in protecting the environment and strengthening the competitive advantage of EU aircraft manufacturers. LSBU is currently engaged in the early stages of this research, but has thus far identified the main requirements & challenges for an aircraft fire suppression system and started to develop bench scale methods to screen and select agents suitable for full scale fire testing.