26/5/2025
Efectis Nederland has performed full-scale tests with aircraft containers (ULD) containing a class D fire load. The tests were performed in accordance with the standards AS8992:2020 and ISO 19281:2016. In the test standards a fire load consisting of cardboard boxes filled with shredded paper is prescribed.
Additional to this prescribed fire load, a battery fire load was added as in practice a ULD would also contain a significant amount of battery cells. For the test the ULD was completely filled with cardboard boxes, containing a total of 5000 battery cells divided throughout the ULD, in clusters. The ULD was placed in a cage made of wired mesh, for safety reasons.
At the start of the test the batteries were brought into thermal runaway by means of a heating element. The heating element was placed on the battery cells in one of the boxes (see picture). Temperatures were measured inside the ULD to be able to monitor the fire propagation. The acceptance criteria used to assess the performance of the ULD were: no flame penetration at any time, and a peak temperature of 204 °C at a distance of 100 mm outside the ULD shall not be exceeded. To monitor the temperature at a distance of 100 mm from the outside surface of the ULD, thermocouples were installed according to the standards. Visual observations were made to identify possible flame penetration during the test. The test was conducted for a minimum of 6 hours.
For more information, please contact Anouk Burgstad