A study of aircraft fire hazards related to natural electrical phenomena Final report, Jun. 1966 - Jul. 1967

Natural electrical phenomena as aircraft fire hazards, with study of flame propagation in fuel vent system

Central waste processing system

A new concept for processing spacecraft type wastes has been evaluated. The feasibility of reacting various waste materials with steam at temperatures of 538 - 760 C in both a continuous and batch reactor with residence times from 3 to 60 seconds has been established. Essentially complete gasification is achieved. Product gases are primarily hydrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, and carbon monoxide. Water soluble synthetic wastes are readily processed in a continuous tubular reactor at concentrations up to 20 weight percent. The batch reactor is able to process wet and dry wastes at steam to waste weight ratios from 2 to 20. Feces, urine, and synthetic wastes have been successfully processed in the batch reactor

Computerized analytical technique for design and analysis of a Sabatier reactor subsystem Final engineering report

Mathematical model for computerized evaluation of Sabatier reaction kinetics in oxygen recovery from carbon dioxid

Photochemical iron reduction and iron bioavailability in seawater

Photochemical redox cycling of iron in natural seawater may affect the availability of iron to phytoplankton for cellular growth. Fe(III) colloids that support only limited phytoplankton growth were added to coastal seawater at pH8 and exposed to simulated solar irradiation for varied time intervals. Photo-production of Fe(II) in the seawater samples was measured during each irradiation. Following irradiation, the marine diatom, Skeletonema costatum, was inoculated into each treatment and cell densities were monitored in batch cultures over the next ten days. Increases in steady state concentrations of Fe(II) were observed during irradiation and subsequent elevated phytoplankton growth was observed in most solutions exposed for 60 minutes or more. The photo-production of Fe(II) in seawater results in the transfer of iron between chemical states which differ in their ability to supply iron on a time scale required for phytoplankton growth

A Study of Aircraft Fire Hazards Related to Natural Electrical Phenomena

The problems of natural electrical phenomena as a fire hazard to aircraft are evaluated. Assessment of the hazard is made over the range of low level electrical discharges, such as static sparks, to high level discharges, such as lightning strikes to aircraft. In addition, some fundamental work is presented on the problem of flame propagation in aircraft fuel vent systems. This study consists of a laboratory investigation in five parts: (1) a study of the ignition energies and flame propagation rates of kerosene-air and JP-6-air foams, (2) a study of the rate of flame propagation of n-heptane, n-octane, n-nonane, and n-decane in aircraft vent ducts, (3) a study of the damage to aluminum, titanium, and stainless steel aircraft skin materials by lightning strikes, (4) a study of fuel ignition by lightning strikes to aircraft skins, and (5) a study of lightning induced flame propagation in an aircraft vent system