A coaxial turbulent spray burner was built to evaluate the relative ef
fectiveness of different chemicals for suppressing fires in a jet engi
ne nacelle. The fire suppressant of current choice, halon 1301 (CF3Br)
, must be replaced because of its detrimental effect on the ozone laye
r. The alternatives being considered lack the chemical activity of CF3
Br, so that the ability of the agents to mix into the flame convective
ly and to absorb heat is critical to their success. An agent delivery
system was designed to inject the desired amount of material into the
air upstream of a fuel nozzle and to control the agent injection rate
through variation of the storage pressure and the duration of time tha
t a solenoid valve remains open. The influence of air velocity, fuel f
low, and injection period on the amount of nitrogen required to exting
uish a jet fuel spray flame is discussed. The effectiveness of eleven
different fluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons, and hydrochlorofluorocarb
ons is compared to that of halon 1301. The alternatives required 1.7 t
o 2.3 times the amount (on a mass basis) of CF3Br to extinguish the sp
ray flame, with HCFC-22 being the most efficient and FC-31-10 the leas
t.