Fire Suppression System

H

HardScrabble

Guest
Couple of things on my mind.

Seemed to my eyes that the system newly required for the fuel cell area activated and was effective in Rusty's fire yesterday. Not absolutely positive, as there is no way to be from simply observing.

The rear of the car flared up with a pretty strong looking flame path and then seemed to go almost completely out for a little bit. It did come back, but my first thought was that the system went off and smothered the fire mometarily, which is about all it can really do. Hopefully, but even odds at best, we will learn more about it this week.

Two criticisms.

First, and not a new one for me, is NASCAR and the teams have to arrive and agree upon an agent other than Halon for these systems. Myself, I am not well enough versed on the various agents currently available to make a recommendation. But Halon is some very very nasty stuff. It smothers a fire and every other oxygen requiring entity in the area, which would include those organisms commonly known as drivers. I have been involved with areas which are protected by Halon systems and always an alarm will sound some seconds before the system activates and the instructions are crystal clear. If you hear the alarm haul your butt out of the area,,,NOW. This stuff will definitely ruin your day.

Also with Halon as an agent to fight a fuel/oil fire in an environment where the air is moving the time span of its effectiveness is likely severely limited. Once it blown out of the area, there are no lingering suppression effects at all.

Second criticism;

Rusty reports on the system's manual activation.


Quote

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"A lot of fire came into the ****pit, but I tried to pull the fire extinguisher, but the handle was bent. The installation of the fire handle wasn't too good at all. It was just bent over and I couldn't get the thing out."
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This one I am going to put on the teams mostly. Come on people, you can design and construct a race car capable of 200 mph that will generally last 500 miles or so, can withstand impacts that would cripple most vehicles and still run, roll cages that are virtually indestructible, chassis that will not flex under tons of force, etc. BUT you can't take the time to make a fire system trigger that will work.............get your priorities straight here. It is all well and fine that you rant about NASCAR this or NASCAR that as far as safety crews or aero rules or whatever. But what the hell.......how hard could this possibly be?
 
So it did go off, cause when Rusty said that I kinda took it as it didn't work at all.
 
HS,

I was under the impression that NASCAR wanted a temperature sensitive type fuse on the system for the fuel cell area.

Also, don't know what type of system Rusty is using, but every one of the fire systems I've seen for race cars use a cable release for the manual activation.
Big, bright red knob with a very small hairpin type safety clip. All it takes is a not too hard push on that big knob to activate it. Maybe Rusty bent the handle by trying to pull instead of pushing it?
Gotta wonder?

Are those Halon systems just Halon or a mixture of Halon and other chemicals?
I could probably take the time to look it up, but just wondered if you know.
 
From what I understand boB the fuel cell system is triggered by a heat sensing element. Not sure exactly what.......that is why I think it went off separate from anything Rusty was trying to activate. I'm guessing Rusty was trying to set the off the ****pit system.

And the big red knob you describe is exactly what I remember. Slam it with your fist and the system goes off whether you pull the pin or not. Not hard to do and virtually foolproof, unless I underestimate the quality of fool we may be dealing with...........LOL

I am not 100% sure what the agent they are using is. I do know it is Halon based, whether there is other stuff in with it I do not know. I do know that I got a whiff of Halon once in a press room fire and though I was gonna choke to death.............nasty nasty stuff. It basically displaces all the oxygen from the area it covers.
 
There is a good chance the fire supression system was initiated by the heat from the oil spewing back and around the fuel cell area without getting into the area proper.
It looked as if the engine blew, oil went under the car and started the rear bumper burning, creating enough heat to set off the supression system inside the fuel cell compartment.

The question about the interior extinguisher was puzzling. Sometimes these things are overlooked by mechanics while inspection of other parts is infinite, a part as innocuous as a bent fire extinquisher pin might be overlooked. Could this be a case where the pin was damaged and the damage never noticed. IF............. that were the case, it is a sure fire guarantee (pun intended) it will be inspected carefully before the next race.
Could it be that Rusty, in his haste, tried to pull the red knob but failed to pull the pin first ???

In total agreement with Hardscrabble, the halon or any fire supressant is dangerous when inhaled. During a fire training exercise Halon was inadvertently inhaled. It is a worse feeling than having the wind knocked out of you.
There should be bigger exits and quicker release mechanisms for drivers from head - neck restraints and communication devices when emergency situations require immediate evacuation from a vehicle. Otherwise the evacuation might not be of the type intended.
:rolleyes:
 
My understanding was that it is Halon with no other agents involved. It is the same triggering device found in building, a plastic mercury filled tube that shatters when the mercury expands. And it is supposed to be contained in the rear. But, in crashes there will be leaks. I would think something other than Halon would be used. As to inside the ****pit that is a regular fire extinguisher with a modified triggering device.

As to the gas tank, I wonder if a tank inside a tank would work. Have the outer tank filled with kitty litter or foam to dampen the blaze.

On a side note, I wonder if anyone from Hollywood is watching these races. If this had happened in a movie there would have been a huge explosion and half the stands in flames...
 
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