High expansion foam begins to fill the newly renovated fuel cell hangar as part of a fire suppression system test at Duke Field, Florida, Dec. 2, 2020. The system test is one of the last steps towards the hangar renovation completion. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Dylan Gentile)
DUKE FIELD, Fla. --
The 919th Special Operations Wing and 492 SOW will soon have a newly renovated fuel cell hangar ready for use. Civil engineers and contractors performed a fire suppression test last week marking one of the final steps for project completion.
“We are excited to get in this thing,” said Lt. Col. Brent Payton, 492 SOW director of strategic requirements. “Right now, if we do fuel cell maintenance in one of the other hangars it actually shuts it down because we are not allowed to open tanks and do fuel cell maintenance with anything else in them.”
The fuel cell hangar renovations included improvements for the heating ventilation and air conditioning system, electrical work, a mechanical room update and adjustment of the fire suppression system to accommodate the C-146A Wolfhound. During renovations, fuel cell work was done in other hangars.
The new fire suppression system uses high expansion foam that is fluorine and surfactant-free with a higher ratio of air to water in the finished product making it more environmentally friendly than low expansion foam. This new system replaced the low expansion foam system that was previously in place.
“Before the renovation, the fuel cell hangar protected the airplanes using a fire-fighting system called aqueous film-forming foam,” said Lazaro Martin, the 919 SOW facilities operations specialist. “The AFFF system was very effective fighting fuel fires, but it was also very toxic. The new system is basically water mixed with soap to make a lot of air bubbles to smother and fight the fire. After a high expansion foam dump, the next day all the soap bubbles are gone and the hangar floor is ready to be squeegeed up.”
During the fire suppression test, contractors examined the concentration levels of the foam, flow rate and speed at which the foam filled the hangar. They also tested the visual and auditory alarms in the system.
“The new hangar will reduce the amount of aircraft downtime,” said Senior Master Sgt. David Dean, 919th Special Operations Maintenance Squadron accessories flight chief. “They are going to have all the tools and all of the necessary safety equipment in the hanger so on average they will probably save ten to fifteen hours of aircraft downtime.”
When the fuel cell offices move into the newly renovated hangar, space will be freed up in another building for an innovation lab. Innovation resources are currently fragmented in different locations around Duke, so the consolidation will provide a one-stop shop for innovation projects.
The hangar is scheduled to be ready for use in early 2021.
Water pours out of foam generators as part of a fire suppression system test in the newly renovated fuel cell hangar at Duke Field, Florida, Dec. 2, 2020. The fire suppression test is one of the final steps to make the hangar mission ready for 919th Special Operations Wing and 492 SOW maintainers. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Dylan Gentile)
