We verify the effectiveness of bus engine compartment extinguishing beyond European requirements

The Fire laboratory of the CTU UCEEB has already carried out verification and certification tests of engine compartment fire extinguishing systems according to the UN Economic Commission for Europe Regulation R107 in the past. The Slovak company BlazeCut decided to order even more stringent testing with a larger number of fire scenarios defined by the methodology of the Swedish research institute RISE, which was successful. 
 
Since 2015, the "United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Regulation No. 107 - Uniform provisions concerning the approval of vehicles of category M2 or M3 with regard to their general construction" (hereinafter referred to as R107) has been in force and with it the obligation to equip the engine compartments of these vehicles, e.g. buses or heavy goods vehicles, with automatic fire extinguishing systems.
 
According to Regulation R107, the effectiveness of bus engine fire extinguishing systems is tested on a steel assembly simulating a complex engine compartment full of nooks and crannies with potential fire risks. Four fire scenarios are defined with different fire deposits, whether small or large containers of flammable liquid and oil-soaked fibreboard or engine oil dripping onto a hot exhaust pipe. To be approved for use, a fire suppression system must extinguish all four fire scenarios.
 
BlazeCut, a Slovak company specialising in the development and manufacture of various fire extinguishing systems, approached CTU UCEEB Fire Laboratory with the desire to verify their new solution for extinguishing engine compartments not only according to the established R107 methodology but also according to the SPCR183 and SP4912 methodologies developed by the Swedish research institute RISE. This methodology adds seven more fire scenarios to the existing four! These new tests focus even more on hidden fire deposits (fire sources located in the furthest corners of the engine compartment or covered on several sides) or other fires (wooden cribs above the flammable liquid).
 
The verification tests carried out here in January 2023 were successful, and it looks like the follow-up certification tests in Borås, Sweden, also have positive results. Good luck!