ICAO level C - looking for efficiency
Published: 01 October, 2008
Level C foam is the project of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which has put together a workstream to develop a new specification of level C foam. Tests that had been drawn together by Transport Canada and the UK Civil Aviation Authority took place in September in testing laboratory CNPP’s facilities in Saint Marcel, France.
In an industry notorious for its secrecy and sensitivity, it is not surprising the testing itself has had to be rigorously organised to guarantee anonymity. During September foam samples were to be submitted to a Notary for “anonymising” prior to testing in the laboratory. Manufacturers were only told if their own product(s) passed/failed – but anonymous data will be publicly available.
Bernard Valois is the Chairman of the ICAO working group heading the project (he is also a trained firefighter), and he explained to IFJ some of the reasoning behind level C.
“We hadn’t done anything on foam for 20 years and we felt if we didn’t sit down and produce new performance criteria to push industry innovation, then nothing would improve.
“The main prompt, however, was that the US military spec for foam works at a lower application than ICAO’s, and we felt that we should explore whether we could achieve an equivalent foam efficiency.”
The key words pertaining to Level C, emphasises Valois, are “efficiency savings”. “What we have now with level A and B is adequate but this is about potentially achieving the same results but with 30 per cent less agent on vehicles. It is not rocket science – if you have a foam which you can apply at three litres per square metre per minute instead of five, then you have better efficiency in time and therefore performance.”
While an airport would still be able to use level A foam, it will naturally have to provide more of it. “It is the same transition as we had in the 70s and 80s, with A and B, where if you used B you’d be using less foam.”
The airports that will be most affected by the change will not necessarily be existing larger capacity airports, but rather those airports that are in the process of changing category to accommodate larger aircraft.
And while performance is the first factor being tested by ICAO, environmental effects will also be tested at a later date. “Foam manufacturers are very conscious of that side too. But it’s not that big an issue because if we use less product then we should pollute less, in principle.”
It is early days yet, however, and at the time of going to press there were no indications as to how many products – if any – had passed the first round of tests. Valois, however, is optimistic. “If some products pass, then that’s confirmation that we can get to that level of performance. In a sense, we are testing the test.”
This is not Valois’ first time in foam classification development. He had also been involved in the process that culminated in the A and B specification, and things have changed since then. “In those days we wrote the spec and manufacturers complied. This time round we invited them to the table and we said we wanted a 30 per cent efficiency gain. They said that wasn’t possible, but they said that 20 per cent might. We’ll see if it works.”
Even if only one or two products pass the test, says Valois, that will be proof enough that the test is achievable. “It means the test is valid, and that the standard will work its way into ICAO’s standards.”
