zero-leak valve. Doering Company of Clear Lake, Minnesota, provided that critical part. Zero-leak valves were already part of Doering’s catalog, but the level of performance required by NASA is not the industry standard. Doering was able to make an existing zero-leak valve meet the exacting requirements for space. During the 10-year development of the fine-water-mist extinguisher, specialists like Doering were contracted to create specialized components such as the zero-leak
valve. The project team established fire test standards for microgravity environments and built a technology suitable for use in space and on earth. The final product exceeded the project’s requirements. Nine new fine-water-mist fire extinguishers built to replace the original CO2 fire suppression devices arrived on the International Space Station by 2016. Due to a secrecy agreement with NASA, the story of Doering’s zero-leak valve was just released in the last week of April 2020.
Doering’s zero-leak valve is getting ready for another trip into space. NASA is developing the next-generation fine-watermist fire extinguishers using the same valve. The new fire extinguisher is planned for the Orion spacecraft, which is currently at Kennedy Space Center in Florida undergoing final preparations for launch on the unmanned Artemis I mission in 2021.
Image courtesy of Thomas Cooper, Lightbox Images
Image courtesy of Angel Abbud-Madrid, Colorado School of Mines
bladders, the contents wouldn’t release until the extinguisher handle was squeezed, triggering the flow. That opened two cartridge valves and allowed the nitrogen and water to mix before discharging through the nozzle. The effervescent water would put out flames in an open cabin, and a special wand extension attached to the nozzle could reach fires behind an instrument rack or wall. The success of the new extinguisher hinged on one part—a
PROJECT LONG LASTING
By Michael Degan, Editor
Photo courtesy of NASA
IMPACT OF DOERING’S
Doering's zero leak valve
When U.S. astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob
“You have to be able to prove it,” Doering said. “The
“Internally the fire extinguisher is separated into
Behnken boarded the International Space Station
NASA test engineers developed the criteria that we had
two compartments,” Doering said. “One pressurized
on May 31, a new type of fire extinguisher was at
to meet as far as leakage to pass the test of holding
with 1,200 psi of water. The other chamber is nitrogen,
the ready in case of an emergency.
that pressure for 12 or 15 years at 1,200 psi.
also 1,200 psi. The valves keep those pressurized
It took 10 years to develop the innovative firefight-
“We bought the same test equipment that NASA
elements contained. When the fire extinguisher needs
ing device, and a Clear Lake, Minnesota, fluid power
was using so that we were on the same page as far
to be used, the lever controlled by the operator simul-
company had a hand in producing it.
as results. It was a matter of elevating our inspection,
taneously opens both of the Doering valves.”
Wyle Laboratories of Houston, the prime contractor for the fire extinguisher that NASA had ordered for the space station, needed a zero-leak valve and contacted Doering Company, a manufacturer of precision valves and pumps.
our validation process, our documentation.” Though the zero-leak valve needed for the project existed, the company did have to tweak it some. “I was quite confident from day one that we’d be able to give them what they were looking for. In the
Doering shipped the valves in the spring of 2014. Within two years, NASA had made nine fire extinguishers and placed them in the International Space Station. Each one contains two Doering valves. The impact of the developments made in the pres-
“We had a niche market for that type of qualifi-
journey to get there, we did make some changes to
cation,” Russ Doering, then-president and CEO of
the product to make it even better than it was before
“It was an existing base product, but there were
the eponymous company, told Fluid Power Journal.
we started working with them. We were able to end
advances and improvements in design. Those tech-
“So they reached out to us based on our reputation.”
up meeting their expectations.”
nologies are being applied now to other valves
Doering said the company already produced the zero-leak valve Wyle needed, but demonstrating that
The valve’s job is to hold pressure in the two chambers of the new fine-water-mist portable fire extinguisher.
tigious project will be long lasting, Doering said.
that are available. It has an ongoing life after that particular project.”
it could do the job was the challenge. WWW.IFPS.ORG • WWW.FLUIDPOWERJOURNAL.COM
AUGUST 2020
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