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Presentation Slides 

Abstracts

“Water Mist Fire Suppression as an Alternative to Military Specification Foam in Aircraft Hangars” by Mr. Parren Burnette (WP21-5212)

This project demonstrated the use of water mist fire suppression as an alternative for aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) in aircraft maintenance hangars. Water mist suppresses a fire by cooling, surface wetting, and oxygen displacement. Field testing took place at Tyndall Air Force Base, where the team evaluated the system’s performance in suppressing both spill fires (on flat surfaces) and running fuel fires (in motion), in an aircraft hangar at the relevant operational scale.

Heat flux and temperature measurements were recorded for an airplane mockup (overwing, underwing, and combined) and running spill fuel fires at various sizes. System performance was assessed as either suppression (reduction in heat flux below 35 kW/m2 within 30 seconds of activation) or extinguishment (reduction in heat flux to 0 kW/m2 within 45 seconds of activation). The combined system was able to achieve suppression for all spill and running fuel fires and extinguishment without firefighter intervention, showing promise for real-world hangar applications.

“Innovative Nano-Encapsulated Ionic Liquid-Based Surfactants for Fluorine Free Fire Extinguishing Foams” by Dr. Jaspreet Dhau (WP20-1539)

This project evaluated the use of long-chain surface-active ionic liquids (SAILs) to extinguish hydrocarbon fires. The SAIL-F3 formulation provides various physical and chemical barriers to fire suppression in addition to favorable thermodynamic/kinetic conditions to generate cooling characteristics necessary for fire extinguishment and fuel-vapor suppression.

The SAIL-F3 foam formulation works in several ways to stop fires:

1. Creates a sealing barrier to flammable vapors
2. Furnishes a kinetic barrier and a less energetic pathway to ionic liquid vaporization
3. Improves foam stability by delaying the coalescence of bubbles
4. Uses ionic liquid self-healing properties

Using theoretical computational modeling, the project team screened over 100 compounds to identify promising formulations that show potential for non-fluorinated foams. This presentation will summarize research efforts to understand the role of ionic liquid surfactants in obtaining better thermal stability, fuel vapor compatibility, low acute aquatic toxicity, while getting the desired fire extinction capability.

Speaker Biographies

Mr. Parren Burnette is the Government Technical Lead for the Fire and Emergency Services Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Team at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, Airbase Technologies Branch (AFCEC/CXAE), which is located at Tyndall Air Force Base. Mr. Burnette has served as a co-principal investigator of several fire-related projects funded by SERDP and ESTCP that focused on assessment of fluorine-free fire suppression alternatives and new firefighter training tools (such as virtual and augmented reality). He has several publications related to fire extinguishment and fire safety particularly related to suppression of jet fuel fires and firefighting foam performance against military specifications. He has extensive experience coordinating and advancing research in collaboration with multiple government agencies across the DoD and the Civilian Fire Services. Mr. Burnette earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Tennessee State University.

Dr. Jaspreet Dhau is Vice President of Research and Development at Molekule in Tampa, Florida. His career includes significant roles at SRI International in California, Punjabi University in India, and Florida Polytechnic University in Florida. Dr. Dhau has successfully commercialized seven technologies and led over 20 research and product development initiatives, including projects funded by SERDP and ESTCP. His achievements have earned him numerous accolades, including the Pran Nath Vohra Research and Entrepreneurship Award and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Panjab University. In 2022, he was recognized by the National Academy of Inventors as one of the world’s top emerging inventors. Since 2020, Dr. Dhau has focused on developing a fluorine-free firefighting formulation using ionic liquid-based surfactants. With over 35 patent applications filed and 24 granted patents, he has also published 70 peer-reviewed articles in leading scientific journals. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry and a master’s degree in inorganic chemistry from Himachal Pradesh University, a Master of Business Administration degree from Punjabi University in Patiala, and a doctoral degree in chemistry from Panjab University in Chandigarh.