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Column No.5 Safety and Nemoto - (3) "Phosphorescent Emergency Floor Proximity Marking Systems" (March 28, 2000)Nemoto invented the innovative glow-in-the-dark pigment, LumiNova® in 1993 as a substitute for radioactive self-luminous pigment for watches and clocks (See Column No.1). "Go!! Go!!" An instructor shouted the order to evacuate the dark cabin. Passengers left their seats and groped for a way to escape. They stooped to avoid the smoke, and saw a line glowing brightly on the floor. It was the phosphorescent evacuation path marking! Passengers followed the glowing line to the emergency exit. In this way, 19 people ranging in age from 19 to 51, including two passengers who had never flown before, were able to escape from the dark cabin. This is a description of a human observation test conducted by FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) using the CAMI (Civil Aero-Medical Institute) Air Craft Cabin Evacuation Facility to confirm the visibility of phosphorescent floor path evacuation markings in aircraft. Representatives from the aviation authorities of Britain, France and Germany also attended the test. A hypothetical emergency scenario was used for the test. A nighttime flight of intermediate duration resulted in a lights-out condition of 150 minutes before an emergency landing was made in complete darkness. Inch-wide strips made of conventional ZnS based phosphorescent pigment and strontium aluminate based new pigment (LumiNova® G-300M) were fitted along each side of the aisle. 150 minutes before the test started, the strips were exposed to a 25lux light for 30 minutes. According to the test results summarized in the FAA report (Feb. 1998, DOT/FAA/AM-98/2) Table: Afterglow luminance of phosphorescent floor proximity markings (mcd/m2) - by FAA report
Federal regulation 14 CFR 25.812*1 requires that all passenger aircraft must have Floor Proximity Emergency Escape Path Markings. The conventional passenger cabin floor path strips are made with miniature incandescent bulbs or EL panels, which are lit in cases of emergency. The conventional systems sometimes do not work properly because of battery or wiring failures, burned-out light bulbs, or physical disruption caused by vibration, passenger traffic, galley cart strikes, or hull breakage in accidents. In addition to costing money, any repair of these systems would undoubtedly be a cause of delay for some flights. In the past, Photo-luminescent materials had been tried as a solution to this problem but the available phosphorescent materials did not conform to the brightness and afterglow duration requirements. Nemoto's LumiNova®, which glows ten times brighter and ten times longer than conventional phosphorescent pigment, has solved this problem.
Similar visibility tests were conducted in Europe also using Airbus A-340-300, with LumiNova® proving its superiority again. Lufthansa German Airlines was the first company to adapt LumiNova® to actual emergency floor path markings. In 1997 LumiNova® floor path markings were installed in mid-range passenger aircraft for Lufthansa commercial flights in Europe. It is said that there currently are about 10,000 passenger aircraft in the world, about one tenth of which have already been equipped with LumiNova® Emergency Floor Proximity markings. Recently, LumiNova® itself has also been improved. New grades can be excited with lower intensity light while emitting a more intense afterglow. It may not be very long before LumiNova® floor path markings are also installed in long-range passenger aircraft. While it is our sincere hope that such a situation never arises, we are pleased to protect passenger safety with LumiNova®. Table: Comparison table in brightness between standard LumiNova® new LumiNova®
Remarks: ** 14 CFR 25.812(a)(1) Passenger aircraft shall have Floor Proximity Emergency Escape Path Marking Systems (FPEEPMS), which will provide visual guidance for emergency evacuation of passenger cabins when all sources of cabin lighting obscured by smoke. ** 14 CFR 25.812(e) FPEEPMS will enable each passenger to visually identify the emergency escape along the cabin aisle floor after leaving the cabin seat, and to readily identify each exit from the emergency escape path by reference only to marking and visual features not more than four feet above the cabin floor when all sources of illumination more than four feet above the aisle floor are totally obscured and when it is dark. ** Abstract of the report No. DOT/FAA/AM-98/2 Transport category aircraft are required by 14 CFR 25.812 to have emergency lighting systems, including floor proximity marking systems. Typical floor proximity marking systems installed on transport category aircraft have been primarily comprised of incandescent luminaries spaced at intervals on the floor, or mounted on the seat assemblies, along the aisle. The requirement for electricity to power these systems has made them vulnerable to a variety of problems, including battery and wiring failures, burned-out light bulbs, and physical disruption cause by vibration, passenger traffic, galley cart strikes, and hull breakage in accidents. Attempts to overcome these problems have led to the proposal that non-electric photo-luminescent materials be used in the construction of floor proximity marking systems. To assess the viability of this proposal, performance demonstrations of systems made with such materials were conducted. It was found that STRONTIUM ALUMINATE photo-luminescent marking systems can be effective in providing the guidance for egress that floor proximity marking systems are intended to achieve; in contrast, ZINC SULFIDE materials were found to be ineffective. |
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