NBS Smoke Density Chamber

(ASTM E662; BS 6401; NFPA 258)
And options for:
(ISO 5659; ABD0031 (ATS 1000.001); NES 711)

The NBS Smoke Density Chamber is widely used in all industrial sectors for the determination of smoke generated by solid materials and assemblies mounted in the vertical orientation within a closed chamber.

It measures the specific optical density of smoke generated by materials when an essentially flat specimen, up to 25 mm thick, is exposed to a radiant heat source of 25kW/m2, in a closed chamber, with or without the use of a pilot flame. The radiant heat source can be easily replaced with the Conical Radiant Furnace for testing of specimens in the horizontal orientation according to ISO 5659 and IMO FTP Part 2 requirements.

Features of the FTT NBS Smoke Density Chamber (SDC)

  • Test chamber with full width opening door, allowing easy access for sample loading and chamber cleaning.
  • Photomultiplier control unit with manual zero and span controls designed to be used with the FTT software to perform automatic control of the test procedure on the SDC
  • Controls are mounted beside the chamber for convenient operation. They are not obstructed when the door is open.
  • Three term temperature controller for radiant heat source with digital display.
  • Chamber walls are preheated for easier startup and convenient equipment operation.
  • Safety blowout panel, easily replaceable, allows for safe operation of test method.
  • Gas measurement ports are available, for optional measurements of toxic gases.
  • Cabinet designed with a standard 19″ rack, for simple addition of gas analysers, chart recorder and other control units.
  • Air cooled radiometer for furnace flux calibration.

The FTT SDC has been designed specifically to incorporate the ISO 5659 Conical Radiant Furnace. This extends the potential of the SDC by allowing testing at heat fluxes up to 50 kW/m2, horizontal orientation of the specimen and the measurement of mass loss rate of the specimen. It takes approximately 15 minutes to change from ASTM E662 to the ISO 5659 configuration and the equipment conforms to the recent IMO test protocols.

Software

The FTT SDC is supplied with a software package called SmokeBox, which was designed as a data acquisition and presentation package allowing either manual or automatic control. This enables a more efficient use of the instrument, leading to larger daily throughput of testing and enhanced quality graphical data presentation. ‘SmokeBox’ is a Microsoft Windows based package which collects test data and assists with all calibration routines. It can be used for several applications including standardised testing to ASTM E662, ISO 5659 and BS 6401 etc.

SmokeBox enables:

Calibration of the photomultiplier amplifier: Full scale and zero transmission values are calibrated into the software. All recorded and displayed transmission values are corrected, in real time, by the software for calibration, whatever the amplifier range setting.
Automatic file naming: SmokeBox will save the data to a file name automatically generated from the date and test number. This is to prevent any valuable data being overwritten. Alternatively the user can manually enter a file name.

Smoke Density Chamber
Smoke Density Chamber

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