A Proposed Methodology for Combustion Toxicology Testing of Combined Halon Replacement Agent/Jet Fuel Interaction

An international consensus to remove Chlorofluorocarbon CFC compounds from production and U.S. national policy to implement the resulting protocols has motivated the U.S. Air Force to embark on a program to find a suitable replacement for Halon 1211, currently used to extinguish flight line fires. This research addressed the feasibility of conducting a combustion toxicology CT program to assess the toxic products of the combustion interaction of JP-8 and the Group 1 or so-called Near Term candidate replacement agents for Halon 1211 HCFCs -123, -124, and -142b. A laboratory scale experiment benchmarked on large scale testing of a 150 sq ft pool fire was developed on the basis of Froude scaling of the full scale fire to a 15 x 15 cm pan fire. A prototype apparatus was developed and investigation into the use of animal behavior methods as an indicator of human incapacitation was conducted. The result is a new method which may potentially be utilized for future toxicity studies of the combustion interaction of current and future U.S. Air Force fuels with various fire extinguishants. Extinguishing agents, Halon 1211, Halon replacement, Combustion