Fire Suppression Canister Leak Testing

Market driver:

Many police cruisers and heavy equipment vehicles have special fire suppressant modules in their trunks or near the engines to quickly extinguish potential fires due to rear end collisions or fuel malfunctions.

Test requirements:

The fire suppressant module contains an initiator and powder to suffocate the fire. Any moisture in the initiator deteriorates its performance and also affects the fire suppressant powder. Because this module has a long term expected life and high liability issues, it requires stringent leak testing.

CTS solution:

Cincinnati Test Systems developed both automated and manual helium mass spectrometer test stands to handle the production of these modules. The low leak rate specification to assure the long life functionality of the product required the helium mass spectrometer technology to measure those extremely low leak rates.