For the LOKI-PED project, funded by EASA, Fraunhofer EMI and IBP team up with AIRBUS.
Fraunhofer EMI will conduct abuse tests of PEDs and Lithium-Ion-Batteries at the Battery Test Facility in Efringen-Kirchen. Extensive instrumentation will be used to characterize the temporal evolution of fire and smoke generation, as well as the gas composition.
The hot gas emitted during thermal runaway will be replaced by a representative smoke source based on the experimental results and computational fluid dynamic simulations.
Cabin fire tests with a A320 mockup, provided by Fraunhofer IBP will take place at the blast site of Fraunhofer EMI. Therefore, the A320 mockup is instrumented with optical and thermal diagnostics. In this environment the effects of fire triggered by PEDs under thermal runaway will be investigated. In addition, the effects of additional mitigation measures in case of cabin fire caused by PEDs will be assessed.
In addition, Fraunhofer EMI will conduct quantitative risk assessments covering the limits related to the number of batteries and the battery energy capacity as well as the limits established by the applicable regulations. Based on this work guidance for risk assessment, the safety promotions for passengers and improvements of existing provisions will be provided.
Furthermore, we will organize the assessment of additional mitigation measures available on the market and their certification process including handling and effectiveness tests.
Finally, Fraunhofer EMI is responsible for the management of the LOKI-PED project.
Fraunhofer IBP hosts and operates the Flight Test Facility, a former in-service wide-body aircraft section including cabin (10 rows, 80 passengers), lavatory, cockpit and the underfloor area. Using this realistic air flow field and the representative smoke source the spread of smoke in cabin and cockpit will be investigated experimentally. Thereby, cabin emergency procedures as well as additional mitigation measures including crew will be assessed and numerical simulations of the smoke spread will be validated.
The numerical simulations of the smoke spreading in cabin and cockpit using the zonal modelling approach will provide insights in any aircraft design from narrow-body to wide-body type. Hence, different mitigation strategies against the smoke spread will be assessed effectively.
Furthermore, Fraunhofer IBP will provide a A320 mockup for cabin fire tests. This mockup includes aircraft seats and interior as well as relistic ventilation conditions.
AIRBUS (Airbus Operations GmbH and Airbus SAS) will bring expertise from the OEM point of view to the LOKI-PED project. From several centers, AIRBUS contributes know-how in the fields of active and passive fire protection, fire safety engineering and fire testing, cabin airflow and computational modeling, incident reports involving PEDs, regulations, as well as emergency procedures in cockpit and cabin.
Following the approval of the Horizon Europe Work Programme by the European Commission on June 15, 2021, EASA has been entrusted with the management of six large research actions, covering a budget of 14.2 million Euro and spanning over 15 different tenders. One of these is the LOKI-PED project. Details about these projects can be found on the EASA website.