Federal Aviation Administration E Tablet Fire Tests
This report was presented to the FAA Fire Safety Systems Meeting on May 14th, 2014. The report discusses the use of E Tablets as an airline supplied personal entertainment device onboard passenger
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About Federal Aviation Administration E Tablet Fire Tests
PowerPoint presentation about 'Federal Aviation Administration E Tablet Fire Tests'. This presentation describes the topic on This report was presented to the FAA Fire Safety Systems Meeting on May 14th, 2014. The report discusses the use of E Tablets as an airline supplied personal entertainment device onboard passenger. The key topics included in this slideshow are . Download this presentation absolutely free.
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Slide1Presented to:By: Date: Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests FAA Fire Safety [1] Systems Meeting 05-14-2014
Slide22Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 2 Background • There is use of E-Tablets as an airline supplied personal entertainment device aboard passenger aircraft. • Lithium-ion batteries are known to undergo “thermal runaway” and propagate “thermal runaway” to additional adjacent batteries. • Large quantities of e-tablets stored adjacent to each other can lead to a significant fire.
Slide33Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 3 Related Tests • FAA – The effect of IPad battery overheating was observed under various conditions. – Tests have been done with other Lithium-Ion devices and cells to understand propagation and heat release.
Slide44Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 4 Objective • Perform experiments to understand the fire hazard of storage of large quantities of e-tablets. – Variation of e-tablet spacing. • 1 inch separation • No separation – Variation of e-tablet orientation. • Horizontal orientation vs. vertical orientation. – Variation of e-tablet battery capacity. • Battery storage capacity varies among e-tablets and is known to contribute to the heat of reaction. – Variation of the manufacturer of the e-tablet. • E-tablet materials vary among manufacturers and may contribute differently to the fire hazard (e.g. aluminum vs. plastic). – Variation of ignition source. • Alcohol fire: Simulated an external fire leading to thermal runaway in battery • Heat plate: Simulated an adjacent battery in thermal runaway – Determine the hazard of the accumulation of unburnt battery hydrocarbons.
Slide55Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 5 Test Setup • Three types of e-tablets were used: – Type 1: 43 Wh capacity, aluminum case material. – Type 2: 25 Wh capacity, aluminum case material. – Type 3: 25.9 Wh capacity, plastic case material. • Heat from a hot plate or alcohol fire was used to initiate thermal runaway. • Temperature data was collected. – Thermocouples were positioned on the front and back of each tablet. – A thermocouple was placed on the top of the cart. – A thermocouple was positioned to determine ambient air temperature within the cart. – Finally, temperature on the outside of the cart was measured with an IR camera. • A pressure transducer was attached to measure pressure within the cart. • Later tests were done in a 737 passenger aircraft with a 20 kJ spark igniter placed in the bottom of the cart. – The aircraft had supplied air ventilation from an external ground cart.
Slide66Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 6 Tests Performed • Additional Test – Tests were conducted to determine the hazard of the accumulation of unburnt hydrocarbons. 1 inch separation Hot Plate Ignition 0 inch separation Hot Plate Ignition 1 inch separation Alcohol Fire Ignition 0 inch separation Alcohol Fire Ignition E-Tablet type 1 positioned in a horizontal orientation E-Tablet type 2 positioned in a horizontal orientation E-Tablet type 3 positioned in a horizontal orientation E-Tablet type 1 positioned in a vertical orientation E-Tablet type 2 positioned in a vertical orientation E-Tablet type 3 positioned in a vertical orientation Horizontal Orientation Vertical Orientation
Slide77Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 Results: Separation Distance • 1” separation: Thermal runaway didn’t propagate in any of the tests. • 0” separation: Thermal runaway propagated with e-tablet type 1 (43Wh, Aluminum) in the horizontal orientation. 7 Partially Burnt E-Tablets Fully Burnt E-Tablets
Slide88Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 Results: Battery Capacity • A correlation of increasing temperature with increased battery capacity was observed. 8
Slide99Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 Results: E-Tablet Material • Thermal runaway occurred faster in plastic e-tablets than aluminum e-tablets. – Typical time to thermal runaway with plastic e-tablets: 10.5 minutes – Typical time to thermal runaway with aluminum e-tablets: 15 minutes 9
Slide1010Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 Results: Tests in 737 10 Upon initiation of the spark ignition source a pressure pulse caused the door to burst open.
Slide1111Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 Results: Tests in 737 (con’t) • Combustion occurred within the galley cart. – Combustion before the hydrocarbons had completely spread throughout the inside of the cart caused localized flaming which penetrated the door seal. – Combustion after the hydrocarbons had completely spread throughout the inside of the cart caused a pressure pulse that caused the cart door to burst open. • Despite use of the aircraft ventilation system, the aircraft filled with smoke. 11
Slide1212Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 Additional Observation • The alcohol fire heated the e-tablets more rapidly than the heat plate. – The fire had a higher heat release rate. 12
Slide1313Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 Summary of Results • Higher battery capacities produced higher e-tablet temperatures. • E-tablets made of aluminum were able to absorb more heat than plastic e-tablets before reaching thermal runaway. • The build-up of hydrocarbons within the cart produced a flammable mixture, which when ignited caused the door to burst open and release flames and smoke in large enough quantities to overpower the aircraft ventilation system. 13
Slide1414Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 14 Questions or Suggestions? • Contact – Thomas Maloney – Office: 609-485-7542 – Thomas.ctr.Maloney@faa.gov
Slide1515Federal Aviation Administration E-Tablet Fire Tests 05-14-14 15 Citations • [1] Griffith, Chris. "News." PC Locs IN THE MEDIA Firm Sells IPad Charging Carts to Qantas Comments . N.p., 14 Nov. 2012. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.