Further development of Sand Bed Burner

Abstract: To determine whether a weapon system meets the requirements set for insensitivity, the system is getting exposed for special tests. One of these tests shows how the system reacts when it ends up in a fire. This test is called the "Fast Cook-Off (FCO) Test", called FCO-test, and performed with a Sand Bed Burner (SBB). According to primary testing provision, the fuel for this test is used of jet fuel such as Jet A-1. A project at Bofors Test Center (BTC) is in progress to use an alternative fuel of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). This fuel is very advantageous compared to jet fuel in terms of environmental impact, work environment and testing costs. The aim of this thesis is to improve the existing test equipment considering fire over the entire surface and solve the problems with dropped gas flow and freezing of gas bottles. SBB works in the sense that the new petrol LPG streams into the SBB and expands in the free space below the sand bed before the gas will diffuse through the bed of sand and the fire engulfs the object. LPG is a condensable gas that requires oxygen. LPG exceed from liquid to gas phase and needs a large lateral surface to take up more energy which results in better evaporationto the phase transfer. Reaction products from complete combustion of LPG are only water vapor and carbon dioxide, the same as in your exhaled air. To solve these problems it was needed to change P11 composite bottles to P45 steel bottles to get a longer evaporation and larger lateral surface. Four flow inlets instead were used of one into SBB for a better stream in the free space under the sand bed. Propane regulators used to get a lower and more constant flow to avoid freezing. Compressed airconnected tothe SBB to geta mix between oxygen and LPG. The result shows in higherheat radiation efficiency even though the flow was settled down to 1/3 with the new propane regulators. In test 2 the value was 37 kW/m2 and in test 7 it was around 57 kW/m2. Because of a smaller flow and bigger steel bottles the freezing disappeared. Smaller grain of sand together with four inlets and compressed air gave a more complete combustion.