U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA.
Published: November 2017
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
The effect of accidental fires are simulated to understand the response of items such as vehicles, fuel tanks, and military ordnance and to remediate the effects through re-design of the items or changes in operational procedures. The comparative combustion emissions of using jet propellant (JP-5) liquid fuel pools or a propane manifold grid to simulate the effects of accidental fires was investigated. A helium-filled tethered aerostat was used to maneuver an instrument package into the open fire plumes to measure CO, CO, fine particulate matter (PM), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and elemental/organic/total carbon (EC/OC/TC). The results showed that all emissions except CO were significantly higher from JP-5 burns than from propane. The major portion of the PM mass from fires of both fuels was less than 1 μm in diameter and differed in carbon content. The PM emission factor from JP-5 burns (129 ± 23 g/kg Fuel) was approximately 150 times higher than the PM emission factor from propane burns (0.89 ± 0.21 g/kg Fuel). The PAH emissions as well as some VOCs were more than one hundred times higher for the JP-5 burns than the propane burns. Using the propane test method to study flammability responses, the environmental impact of PM, PAHs, and VOCs would be reduced by 2300, 700, and 100 times per test, respectively.
In this work, military jet fuel JP-5 surrogates were formulated and tested in comparison to a nominal JP-5 fuel. Combustion experiments were conducted in an advanced engine technology (AET) ignition quality tester (IQT) and a Yanmar L100W Tier 4 diesel engine due to the potential use of jet fuel in diesel engines in military situations. The surrogate development process began with determining the fuel chemical composition based on analyses of 256 JP-5 fuel samples.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA.
The effect of accidental fires are simulated to understand the response of items such as vehicles, fuel tanks, and military ordnance and to remediate the effects through re-design of the items or changes in operational procedures. The comparative combustion emissions of using jet propellant (JP-5) liquid fuel pools or a propane manifold grid to simulate the effects of accidental fires was investigated. A helium-filled tethered aerostat was used to maneuver an instrument package into the open fire plumes to measure CO, CO, fine particulate matter (PM), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and elemental/organic/total carbon (EC/OC/TC).
This case of intoxication of two aviators by inhalation of JP-5 fuel vapors emphasizes a dangerous safety hazard. One or both aviators experienced burning eyes, nausea, fatigue, impairment of eye-hand coordination, euphoria, and memory defects when their cockpit became overwhelmed with the odor of JP-5 fuel. Physical and laboratory examinations were normal except for their ill appearance, conjunctivitis, and mild hypertension, which resolved without sequelae.
