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The Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES) is an Indian defence laboratory of the
Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, head ...
(DRDO). Located in Timarpur,
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
, its main function is the development of technologies and products in the area of explosive, fire and environmental safety. CFEES is organised under the Armaments Directorate of DRDO. The present director of CFEES is Arvind Kumar


History

The Centre for Explosive and Environment Safety (CEES) was established in 1992 by merging three
Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, head ...
(DRDO) establishments; DRDO Computer Centre, Delhi, The Directorate of Explosives Safety, DRDO HQ, and the Fire Adviser's Office, DRDO HQ. In 2000 another DRDO lab, "Defence Institute of Fire Research (DIFR)" was merged with CEES. In order to emphasise the importance of fire science, the
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
renamed CEES as CFEES in 2003.


Areas of Work

CFEES works in the area of Explosive safety, Fire protection and environmental safety. In addition to developing technologies to protect against these threats, it also trains personnel in these areas, and enforces safety standards in the use of hazardous materials- toxic, explosive and flammable. CFEES also designs and develops sensors to detect these threats. Explosive Safety - CFEES helps in the Siting of explosive processing and storage dumps and the design, testing and evaluation of safe explosive storage houses. Additionally, it trains armed forces personnel and DRDO scientists in the safe use of explosives and ordnance, and enforces compliance of safety rules. Simulation and
risk modeling Financial risk modeling is the use of formal mathematical finance, mathematical and econometric techniques to measure, monitor and control the market risk, credit risk, and operational risk on a firm's balance sheet, on a bank's accounting ledger ...
is also carried out, in order to aid in Disaster Management. Environment Safety - CFEES develops treatment and disposal techniques for hazardous Heavy Metal Wastes, as well as Photodegradable Polyethylene for use as packaging material at high altitudes, which prevents the pollution in mountainous areas where the
Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...
operates, such as
Kargil Kargil or Kargyil is a City in Indian-administered Ladakh in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the WP:TERTIARY, tert ...
and Siachen. CFEES also plays an active role in formulating the phase-out strategy for halon and other
ozone layer The ozone layer or ozone shield is a region of Earth's stratosphere that absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorbs most of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation. It contains a high concentration of ozone (O3) in relation to other parts of the a ...
threatening gases. The National Halon Management Programme, funded under bilateral programme, is implemented by CFEES, supported by Ozone Cell, India. Halons are one of the six categories of chemicals that are covered under the phase-out programme of the
Montreal Protocol The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. It was agreed on 16 ...
. The Montreal Protocol, to which India is a signatory, has called upon the parties to phase out the CFCs, halons and other man-made ozone-depleting chemicals. In this regard, the lab is researching into alternative chemicals for fire suppression and other uses. Fire Safety - CFEES is involved in the development of automatic fire and explosion detection and suppression systems for armoured vehicles, and water mist based fire protection Systems for various applications. It also develops lightweight
fire protection Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially Conflagration, destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, Compartmentalization (fire protection), compartmentalisation, suppression and inve ...
clothing. A smoke test tunnel for creating fire signatures under various conditions has been installed. Specialised Training for armed forces personnel in fire protection, safety, prevention and
firefighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...
is also conducted by CFEES. The lab has also developed a software package for virtual firefighting and fire training simulation.


Projects and Products

Many of the technologies and processes developed by CFEES have more extensive uses in civilian sector. As a result, many of these products have been licensed to Private companies for manufacture, with export potential being considered.


Fire Protection


Fire Detection and Suppression Systems for AFVs

CFEES has successfully designed and operationalized Integrated Fire Detection and Suppression Systems for Armoured vehicles like the Arjun MBT, Ajeya and
Abhay IFV Abhay (Sanskrit: अभय, ''"Fearless"'') was an infantry combat vehicle created under a tech-demonstration program started in India by the Defence Research and Development Organisation or DRDO. As its first IFV project, Abhay was designed t ...
projects of the Ordnance Factory Board. The system is based on infrared detectors for the detection of fire/explosion in the crew compartment, and is capable of suppressing fuel-fire explosions resulting from an enemy hit or due to any malfunction of the engine, transmission or electrical short circuit. The system is capable of detection and suppression of fires in the crew compartment within 200 milliseconds and in the engine compartment within 15s.


Water Mist based Fire Protection

Water Mist based Fire Protection Systems have been developed. This includes new nozzles for the generation of water mist, working at low pressure of 12 bars and above to facilitate the proper atomisation of water droplets under high pressure. This systems is used for the following applications: :* IR signature suppression of plume emitted by exhaust of Naval ships :* Air cargo bay :* Electronic cabinet fires :* Fuel –air explosion suppressions


Intelligent Fire Sensor

CFEES has developed an Intelligent Fire Sensor with software based on a fire signature database that allows its fire detection system to accurately identify true fire situations in a few seconds while rejecting false alarms. The sensor is a highly sensitive detection system coupled with powerful intelligent analysis, which allows fire detection even in dusty environment. The use of laser diode source and multiple reflection increases the sensitivity of smoke detection. The sensors sense the temperature and smoke, making the fire detector sensitive to both slow-smouldering and fast-burning fires. The system can be installed on board the ships, offshore machinery rooms, aircraft cargo compartments, industries, chemical plants, warehouses, etc. Production of this sensor is being carried out by Southern Electronics Pvt. Ltd., a
Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
based private manufacturer.


Fire extinguishing chemicals

A vapour-based fire extinguisher, developed jointly by CFEES and
Indian Institute of Chemical Technology The CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology is a national-level research center located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). IICT conducts research in basic and applied chemistry, bio ...
, Hyderabad, uses hepta-fluropropane as a replacement to halon-1301, which has been banned by the
Montreal Protocol The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. It was agreed on 16 ...
.Techmonitor.net report Sep-Oct 2006
. Report sourced from ''
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
''
A monoammoniumphosphate (MAP)-based multi-purpose, dry chemical ABC powder for extinguishing fires has also been developed. This is environment-friendly as it does not release toxic gases or residue. Production of the same is being carried out by K.V. Fire Chemicals Pvt. Ltd.,
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
, which plans to introduce it into the civilian market.


Environment protection

* Technology for the treatment and stabilisation of Heavy metals (Pb, Cr, Hg, Cd, Zn etc.) from
effluent Effluent is wastewater from sewers or industrial outfalls that flows directly into surface waters, either untreated or after being treated at a facility. The term has slightly different meanings in certain contexts, and may contain various pol ...
s being generated by Ordnance Factories and other manufacturing plants. The technology uses a
cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...
/
polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...
-based solid matrix, and is being license-produced by Quality Water Management Systems Pvt. Ltd., Chennai. * Technology for removal of nitro bodies (HMX, RDX) from HMX plant effluents (based on neutralisation and alkaline hydrolysis). * CFEES has also built up expertise in the area of establishing ground water monitoring networks for any project site. * CFEES has developed processes for producing Coal Pitch based Activated Carbon Spheroids for adsorption of harmful chemical vapours by the protective gears. This is used for protection against nuclear, biological and chemical warfare. The powder has good mechanical strength, low ash content and is eco friendly. * A National Halon banking and management facility has been set up, where impure halon can be purified to acceptable levels and stored.


References


External links

* *
CFEES Products and Technologies
{{coord, 28.704, 77.217, display=title 1992 establishments in Delhi Government agencies established in 1992 Defence Research and Development Organisation laboratories Research institutes in Delhi Research institutes established in 1992