Status of Fire Boom Performance Testing

Most response plans for in situ burning of oil at sea call for the use of a fire-resistant boom to contain the oil during a burn. Presently, there is no standard method for the user of a fire-resistant boom to evaluate the anticipated performance of different booms. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) F-20 Committee has developed a draft Standard Guide for In Situ Burning of Oil Spills On Water: Fire-Resistant Containment Boom; however, the draft provides only general guidelines and does not specify the details of the test procedure. Significant advances have been made in the past three years in implementing the guidelines in the draft standard. Two series of tests, one using diesel fuel and one using propane, have been conducted to evaluate the protocol for testing the ability of fire-resistant booms to withstand both fire and waves. A brief description and comparison of these tests is presented along with a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the use of each fuel and some issues identified in the tests.