U.S. Navy Sodium Chlorate Oxygen Candle Safety

Abstract

U.S. NAVY submarines burn sodium chlorate "candles" in an enclosed furnace for emergency and supplementary oxygen generation. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, Ship Systems Engineers Station reviewed the safety of the U.S. Navy's use of sodium chlorate oxygen generating candles in response to the chemical oxygen generator accident aboard the HMS TIRELESS. As part of this safety review, deliberately contaminated oxygen candles were burned in a standard Navy candle furnace to observe the impact of such contamination. Additionally, oxygen candles were burned at elevated pressures to investigate their performance in a pressurized submarine. The results of these investigations showed that the U.S. NAVY candle furnace is well designed from an oxygen safety standpoint, and that significant accidental contamination of a candle with organic materials would not cause an explosion or release of burning material from the current furnace. NomenclatureACFM = actual cubic feet (gas) per minute ASTM = originally American Society for Testing and Materials CBD = Chesapeake Bay Division of Naval Research Laboratory Cl 2 = chlorine, diatomic molecule ClO 2 = chlorine dioxide ft = feet (0.305 meters) HOCl = hypochlorous acid ΔHf o = standard heat of formation of compound, kilojoules/gram-mole at 25 o C ΔHr o = standard heat of reaction, kilojoules/gram-mole at 25 o C ml = milliliters 2 MSA = Mine Safety Appliances company NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration NFPA = National Fire Protection Association NOx = various gaseous nitrogen oxides NRL = Naval Research Laboratory NSWCCD-SSES = Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, Ship Systems Engineering Station psia = pounds per square inch absolute psid = pounds per square inch differential psig = pounds per square inch gage SCFM = standard cubic feet (gas) per minute SCOG = solid chemical oxygen generator or self-contained oxygen generator sec = second SFOG = solid fuel oxygen generator WSTF = White Sands Test Facility, a division of Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

The Oxygen Generation Performance of Hollow-Structured Oxygen Candle for Refuge Space

“…Scholars worldwide mainly focused on the oxygen candle formula, catalyst, fuel, burning fluctuation, size of the composition, start-up mode, and molding process which influence the performance of oxygen candles [12][13][14][15][16]. Our team has contributed to the performance of oxygen supply in refuge space for years [17][18][19][20].…”