Document dDnByDqBnVJq6Oowon6eBjOjB
IMPACT OF PFOS/AFFF PRODUCTION HALT RESTRICTIONS ON US NAVY OPERATIONS
AFFF WORKSHOP 16 MARCH 2001
Dr. Frederick Williams Director, N avy Technology Center
for Safety and Survivability NHL Code 6180 (202) 767-2476 Iwillia111@ccs.11rl.11avy.mil www.chemistry.nrl.navy.mil/6180
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AFFF PROVIDES UNIQUE CAPABILITY
No other agent can equal its ability to rapidly extinguish a pool fire
Does not require an aspirating nozzle
Vital to confronting - potential ordinance cook-off - pool fires threatening aircraft crew - threat to concentrated high value assets
NAVY DEPENDENCE ON FIXED AND PORTABLE AFFF SYSTEMS
PROTECTION
PROVIDED BY
Ships, Submarines
NAVSEA
Planes
NAVAIR with NAVSEA, NAVFAC
Facilities
NAVFAC
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INSTALLED AFFI CONCENTRATE ESTIMATED QUANTITIES
Ships, (Submarines)
500,000 (gal)
Shore Fire Fighting Vehicles
72,000
Shore Base Reserve for Vehicles
288,000
Shore Aircraft Hangars
223,000
Shore -Other
55,000
Total
1,138,000 gal
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ANNUAL USAGE
DoD annual consumption is down to 286,000 gallons from 320,000 gallons 8 years ago. Navy consumes -160,000 gallons.
DLA has purchased 200,000 gallons of 3M AFFF (PFOS) as the last shipment 3M will manufacture.
Navy emergency use
- 20,000 gal/yr
Navy ship deck systems testing,
accidental releases
~ 60,000 gal/yr
Navy contained discharges
- 80,000 gal/yr
System test protocols have been modified in frequency and technique to limit discharge to environment.
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DROP-IN VERSUS SUBSTITUTE True drop-in:
Use same equipment (tanks, proportioned, piping, nozzles) Not true drop-in:
Need to replace or modify existing shipboard delivery systems
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AFFF SHIPBOARD SYSTEM REPLACEMENT IM PA C T
Systems with characteristics based on AFFF performance parameters were designed into the ship and submarine construction
Even if suitable alternative systems could be designed at significant space & weight penalty, their implementation would require unacceptable major ship alterations, out-of-service time and expense
Must meet existing Navy fire performance requirements Can not tolerate performance degradation
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INVENTION AND MONITORING OF AFFF NRL invention partnership with 3M NAVSEA maintains MILSPEC (M1-F-24385F) NRL serves as the only AFFF qualified test
facility for determining compliance with the Mil Spec
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AFFF QPL
Manufacturer:
3M Ansul
3%, 6% 3%, 6%
Chemguard National Foam Angus
3% 3%, 6% 3%
90 days to qualify a new formulation once product is at NRL
One manufacturer undergoing spec test Two possible additional candidates
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CONCLUSIONS Many applications worldwide depend on the
capabilities of the US military developed AFFF
While many of these applications may be capable of being satisfied by reduced performance products, the US military performance requirements cannot be reduced without potential loss of life and platform survivability
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