Test and Evaluation of Four Fire Resistant Booms at OHMSETT

During the period of 22 August–12 October 1998, seven commercial fire booms were involved in burn testing at the US Coast Guard Fire and Safety Test Detachment Facility in Mobile, Alabama in accordance with the proposed protocol, American Society for Testing and Materials-F20. Four of the seven booms survived the test sequence and were shipped from Mobile, Alabama to the Minerals Management Service’s OHMSETT facility for additional tests including first loss, gross loss, tow speed, oil loss rate, and critical tow speed. The four booms showed the same trend in response to various wave conditions; the long sinusoidal waves improved containment performance and the short choppy waves degraded performance. One of the four booms achieved slightly higher first and gross oil loss rate tests. One boom demonstrated superior stability at high tow speeds. The results of this test report are consistent with the evaluation of fire booms that had been previously tested at OHMSETT, but also show a slight increase in performance. The tests indicate that the existing fire booms can contain oil in currents up to 1 knot and in various wave conditions after being exposed to multiple burns. This information will be used by the Coast Guard to develop policies and procedures for the in situ burning (ISB) of oil during a spill.