Plenary Lecture

FLUID AND HEAT TRANSFER ISSUES IN AIRCRAFT FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

 


Dr. N. Albert Moussa
BlazeTech Corporation
24 Thorndike St.
Cambridge, MA 02141
USA
E-mail: amoussa@blazetech.com
 

Abstract: While commercial air travel is an extremely safe mode of transportation, aircraft fires and explosions can occasionally occur with catastrophic consequences to passengers and crew. These accidents are also the driving force behind the safety improvements required or recommended by governmental agencies and adopted by industry. Based on real-world examples, Dr. Albert Moussa will provide an overview of the main types of in-flight and post-crash fires involving aircraft engine, fuel tank, cabin and cargo areas. He will also give examples of safety improvements such as the recent requirements of inerting fuel tanks and fire hardening thermal acoustic insulation. His presentation will identify key fluid and heat transfer issues that pervades this subject. This is a multi-media presentation illustrated with slides, computer model output and short video clips.
 

Brief Biography of the Speaker:
He is the Founder and Technical Director of BlazeTech Corp. in Cambridge, MA, a company that specializes in R&D in the areas of safety, environment and energy. He specializes in fire and explosion working particularly for the aircraft and chemical industries. He has developed and teaches an annual four-day professional engineering course on this subject that is unique in bridging the gap between theory and practice. He got his B.S. from Stanford University and his MS and PhD from MIT, all in Mechanical Engineering. He has published widely including one book on flammability. His forewarning about fuel tank vulnerabilities prior to the TWA 800 and Concorde disasters has gained him notoriety in the US and international media. He has received many awards, most recently the Engineer of the Year Award from the New England Section of the AIAA in 2000, the Distinguished Lecturer award by the AIAA in 2004, and best paper awards by SAE in 2005 and ASEI in 2006.