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Stennis Tests AFFF Systems

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS051219-08
Release Date: 12/19/2005 1:03:00 PM

By Journalist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Gabriel Owens, USS John C. Stennis Public Affairs

ABOARD USS JOHN C. STENNIS (NNS) -- While USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) was underway for weeklong sea trials after an 11-month Docked Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA), its engineering and air departments fully tested all its aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) systems throughout the ship Dec. 13-16.

“We have to test every system, every sprinkler,” said Damage Controlman 2nd Class (SW) Gary Lee, of Engineering Department’s repair division. “This is important after a long inport period to ensure the ship is at its optimal readiness.”

In addition, the tests are required for the Congressionally-mandated material inspection by the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) team. INSURVs are typically held every five years and perform a thorough, all-encompassing inspection of nearly every aspect of a Navy vessel in terms of material, maintenance and safety.

“During DPIA, we were able to overhaul and rebuild valves and work on AFFF stations along with many other firefighting systems,” said Lee. “Now that we are in the work-up phase, we are testing everything. These tests include pushing every AFFF button on the ship when we were in port to see if it works electrically.”

Once the ship was underway, the actual discharge of AFFF throughout all the AFFF covered spaces began.

AFFF is a synthetic, film-forming foam developed for use on ships. The AFFF system is installed for combating class "Bravo" fires in the reactor, engineering spaces, hangar bay and on the flight deck.

The system generates a vapor blanketing foam on top of flammable fuels. AFFF is applied over the flammable liquid surface. As the foam floats out over the surface of the flammable liquid, it provide a vapor seal. This cuts off oxygen from the flammable source, thus depriving a possible or actual fire of part of its fuel.

The AFFF used by the Navy and is a six percent concentration; that is, six parts AFFF mixed with 94 parts of water.

“Part of the testing process is to ensure the AFFF systems are generating the correct mixture,” Lee said.

With help from Air and Weapons Departments, Lee’s team began tests that started in the hangar bays. Each hangar bay was sealed off as the AFFF sprinklers were tested.

“It’s not something you see every day,” said Airman Eric Labreque, of Air Department. “We work on these systems all the time, but I’ve never seen them actually in use. This only happens once in three or four years.”

After a full day of testing the 13 groups of hangar bay sprinklers, the rest of the week was spent testing the other 20 systems throughout the ship, including 80 hose reels, 21 flight deck zones, 21 countermeasure wash down zones, four JP-5 pump rooms, nine weapons elevators, and four main space bilge sprinkler systems.

These are places where the most probable class "Bravo" fires could occur.

The tests showed what was working and what wasn’t. “We’re in pretty good shape, considering the long inert time in port,” said Lee. “The problems we found, such as some sprinkler heads in the hangar bays, were minor and easily fixed.”

Stennis finished its first sea trials Dec. 17 and is gearing up for nearly a year of work ups prior to its next deployment.