The following is a brief description of some of the FAA's Fire Safety Section's facilities that are used for work in the area of fuel tank protection. For more information on the Fire Safety Section's facilities, click here.

747SP Ground-Test Article

The Boeing 747SP was decommissioned from service with United Airlines and acquired by the FAA. It is being employed as an aircraft test article to develop and test GBI systems, and to characterize the fuel vapor flammability in a heated center wing tank. This test article is schedule to be used to support other aircraft safety R&D efforts in the area of aging systems. All aircraft systems are in tact and operational, including the complete fuel system, all engines, and the APU. The test article is presently located in the wash rack area of the Wm. J. Hughes Technical Center aircraft ramp.

The aircraft has 4 main wing fuel tanks, 4 wing tip reserve fuel tanks, and a large center wing fuel tank (CWT). The CWT is approximately 242 inches long and 255 inches wide with height varying from 78 inches to 48 inches. It has 6 bays, 2 of which are the full width of the fuselage, and 4 of which are two full-length bays dissected mid-way with a partial rib. A large dry bay exists forward of the 2 full width fuel bays, but aft of the forward spar. The CWT is vented to the wing tip surge tanks via a vent channel in the wings with venting tubing contained with the tank. The vent channels run most the length of the wing and terminate in the surge tank, which vents at the underside of the wing. Three air cycle machines exist immediately below the CWT.

Presently, the CWT is instrumented with ullage, fuel, and surface mounted thermocouples as well as sample gas tubing and pressure taps. The gas sampling system has the capability of measuring both oxygen concentration and total hydrocarbon concentration (THC) at eight locations in the tank.

Pressure Fire Modeling Facility

This facility houses a 10 m3 pressure vessel with a working pressure of 650 psi at 750°F that has been used in recent years for testing involving explosive mixtures (e.g., aerosol cans, fuel vapors). An attached vacuum pump allows for evacuation of the vessel to pressures such as would be seen at altitude. Currently, this facility is used for ignition experiments with JP-8 fuel vapors existing at various fuel-air ratios, altitudes and oxygen concentrations.

Environmental Chamber

The environmental test chamber is designed to simulate preset temperature, humidity, and air pressure (altitude) conditions. Chamber controllers can be programmed to simulate an entire flight from takeoff to climb-out, cruise, approach, and landing. The test chamber measures 72 x 71 x 93 inches. The environmental chamber has been used to study the behavior of in-flight fires at altitude, to evaluate the performance of wing ice detectors, and to calibrate various environmental sensors. Currently, a 17 ft3 fuel tank resides inside of the chamber for use in a variety of fuel flammability and fuel tank inerting experiments.

Aircraft Components Fire Test Facility

The aircraft components fire test facility provides a laboratory environment for studying inerting and flammability parameters in several test articles. The facility has an NEA generator capable of making 25 CFM of 95% NEA. The primary test article in the facility is an 88 ft3 rectangular vented fuel tank test article used to perform tank inerting tests and to study mass loading and flammability parameters. The facility also contains a 24% scale plywood model of a B-747 SP center wing fuel tank. The facility has an integrated data acquisition system, shop air, 28 VDC power bus, and a large fuel supply for testing. The adjacent shop areas allow for model fabrication and modification and well as instrumentation.

Additional Information

For information contact:
William Cavage
Phone: (609) 485-4993
Fax: (609) 485-5785
William.M.Cavage@faa.gov

Steve Summer
Phone: (609) 485-4138
Fax: (609) 485-5785
Steven.Summer@faa.gov