SERVICE LETTER ATR72

TITLE: Air conditioning - General guidelines for transporting dry ice

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Revision No. 01 - May 12/21 Service Letter No. ATR72-21-6009

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 SERVICE LETTER ATR72

1. EFFECTIVITY

Valid all ATR72-101, ATR72-102, ATR72-201, ATR72-202, ATR72-211, ATR72-212 and

ATR72-212A aircraft models.

2. REASON

The purpose of this Service Letter is to provide operators with information and
recommendations regarding the transport of dry ice on ATR aircraft.

It is reminded that the responsibility for the preparation of the shipments of dangerous goods,
including dry ice, lies with the operators.

Due to the variety of shipping practices and to the fact that some of the considerations
expressed below may conflict with individual operator needs, operators may develop their own
procedure based on their individual service experience, the local authorities’ recommendations
and this document as general guideline.

3. DISCUSSION

Dry ice is commonly used in shipping to preserve perishable items (food, medicine, etc.).

The quantities of dry ice used depend on the weight of the material needed to be refrigerated.

The sublimation of carried dry ice may cause a significant increase of gaseous carbon dioxide
(CO2). High concentration of CO2 may affect crew and passengers breathing leading to signs
and symptoms similar to those that precede lack of oxygen: headache, dizziness, muscular
weakness, drowsiness and ringing in the ears (Ref. FAA AC91-76A advisory circular).

Many factors can affect the dry ice sublimation rate including the ambient compartment
temperature, type of packaging, amount of surface area of the dry ice.

Tests performed by other companies and the FAA states that the dry ice sublimation rates
experimentally determined are:

- for large (100 lb) amount of dry ice per single package: 1% per hour.

- for small (5 lb) amount of dry ice per single package: 2% per hour.

The shipper has to provide detailed information about the specific packaging and its applicable
sublimation rate. Given the recent introduction of improvements in packaging insulation, the
sublimation rate can be less than 1%.

Special care must be taken for packaging protection during handling in order to ensure that the
actual sublimation rate will be as close as possible to the rate communicated by shipper.

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It remains operator responsibility to determine the correct value of sublimation rate to be used
for the computation of maximum dry ice quantity that can be transported onboard ATR.

It is very important that the sublimation rate applied by the operator is accurate and reliable.
This is particularly important for low sublimation rates, as its variation can have a significant
impact on the maximum allowable dry ice.

The shippers have the ultimate responsibility to ensure that stated sublimation rates and
testing parameters are captured and communicated to entities that use their packaging.

4. RELATED INFORMATION

JAA regulation, paragraph JAR 25.831 (b), (2) (change 13, 5 October 1989) considers that a
3% CO2 concentration (sea level equivalent) is hazardous for crew members.

FAA regulation, paragraph FAR 25.831 (b), (2) (amendment 25-89, 2 December 1996) asks to
show that the CO2 concentration during flight shall not exceed 0.5% concentration in
compartment normally occupied by passengers or crew members.

Dry Ice is classified as a dangerous good under the united nation classification system
UN 1845, class/division 9, per International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Operators may wish to refer to ICAO document DGP/21-WP64 for further guidelines regarding
the transportation of dry ice.

The FAA Advisory Circular AC91-76A, dated 22 May 2009 gives calculation method for
maximum dry ice loading:

𝑋𝑋𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 × 𝑉𝑉𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 × 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴

𝑄𝑄𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 = (1)
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2

Where:

𝑄𝑄𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 = Maximum quantity of dry ice loading [Kg]

𝑉𝑉𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = Aircraft Volume [m3]
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴= Air changes per hour
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 = 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 Sublimation Volume Rate [m3 h-1 Kg-1]
𝑋𝑋𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 = CO2 concentration due to dry ice sublimation

Regarding the sublimation rate, as per FAA Advisory Circular 91-76A, it must be considered
that a 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 of 1% per hour provides 0.55 m3 per 100 Kg of dry ice per hour
(i.e., 8.8 ft3 per 100 lb of dry ice per hour).

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NOTE: The above FAA Advisory Circular 91-76A sublimation volume rate value is valid for sea
level ambient condition (1013.25 mb, 20°C).

The sublimation rate can be expressed in volume rate "vSR" [m3 h-1 Kg-1] or mass rate "mSR"
[Kg h-1 Kg-1], usually indicated as a percentage (%).

The sublimation mass rate "mSR" in Kg h-1 Kg-1 provided by the shipper has to be converted
into sublimation volume rate "vSR” at cabin ambient conditions (cabin pressure and
temperature) in the following way:
mSR
vSR = (2)
ρ𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2

ρ𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 = 1.379 Kg/m3 when considering maximum cabin altitude with 30°C ambient temperature

Thus, 1% Sublimation mass Rates (mSR) per hour produces 0.73 m3 per hour per 100 Kg of
dry ice at maximum cabin altitude and 30°C.
Refer to Appendix for additional details on the sublimation rate conversion.

5. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DRY ICE TRANSPORTATION

A. It is recommended to use aft cargo compartment for dry ice transportation, since there the
pressure is mainly kept at a pressure slightly lower than the cabin (by means of a venturi
installed on the aft bulkhead), therefore the sublimated CO2 will mainly be driven
rearwards and not toward the cabin.

B. Ensure that adequate ventilation is provided by ECS or by opening the aircraft door before
entering the compartment where a large amount of dry ice is stocked. Otherwise, the use
of portable oxygen is recommended.

C. Animals must not be transported in the same compartment with dry ice.

D. Both air conditioning packs must be operating while passengers are onboard and aircraft
is transporting dry ice.

E. Crew members shall be notified of the dry ice stored in the aircraft and must be aware of
the symptoms of excessive CO2 gas concentration that crew and passengers may face
when transporting dry ice.

F. It is operator responsibility to define contingency procedures, in case of aircraft system

failure in flight, in order to prevent excessive CO2 gas concentration inside the aircraft.
Flight time limitation or diversion might be considered.

G. Dry ice must not be stored in aircraft for extended periods of time unless adequate and
continuous ventilation is provided.

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H. As the dry ice sublimates, a loss of weight occurs and may affect the aircraft center of
gravity. Impact on the balance of the aircraft should be evaluated. When expressed in
percentage, sublimation mass rate corresponds to the percentage of dry ice mass
sublimated in one hour.

6. MAXIMUM DRY ICE LOADING ANALYSIS

The calculation below is given for information only, its purpose is to give operators indications
on the amount of dry ice that could be transported according to the regulation authorities and
the aircraft characteristics.

The recommended dry ice carriage limits given in this note were calculated upon the limiting
factor of 0.5% CO2 concentration.

We will consider:

ATR72-101
ATR72-211
ATR72-102
ATR MODELS ATR72-212
ATR72-201
ATR72-212A
ATR72-202
Pressurized Volume
VAircraft 95 m3

Air change per hour with 2 air

conditioning packs ACH 10.03 10.51

Air change per hour with 1 air

conditioning pack ACH 4.31 4.31

Total fresh flow with 2 packs (minimum 𝐹𝐹𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓ℎ

fresh air flow conditions) 15.88 m3/min 16.64 m3/min

Total fresh flow with 1 pack 𝐹𝐹𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓ℎ

(minimum fresh air flow conditions) 6.82 m3/min 6.82 m3/min

CO2 output per crew members

(conservative hypothesis) q𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
CO2 5.83 × 10-4 m3/min (35 l/h)

CO2 output per passengers pax

(conservative hypothesis) qCO2 2.5 × 10-4 m3/min (15 l/h)

Carbon Dioxide concentration, by out

volume, in the outside air X CO 2
0.0314%

According to Cabin Pressure Control System (CPCS) Schedule, with two air conditioning packs
we assume that cruise altitude is 20000 ft and cabin pressure is 12.42 psia (Post-Modification
No. 07696) or 12.6 psia (Pre-Modification No. 07696); with one pack operative we assume that

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the cruise altitude is 17000 ft and cabin pressure is 12.86 psia (Post-Modification No. 07696) or
13.01 psia (Pre-Modification No. 07696).

NOTE: Modification No. 07696 is named “Air conditioning - Install New Air Management
System (NAMS) on ATR72.

lim dryice produced

According to the FAA calculation method (1) and given that X CO 2
= X CO2 + X CO2 (where
produced
X lim
CO2 is the total and max allowable CO2 concentration, X CO2 is the CO2 concentration due
dryice
to ECS, passengers and crew members and X CO2 the CO2 concentration due to dry ice
sublimation):

produced
(Xlim
CO2 − XCO2 ) × VAircraft × ACH
Q CO2 = (3)
SRCO2

With

X lim
CO2 = 0.005 (considering the recommended limiting concentration of 0.5% CO2)

𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 14.7
(qCO × Npax +q𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
CO2 × Ncrew ) × P +𝐹𝐹𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓ℎ × Xout
CO2
𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 2 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
𝑋𝑋𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 = (4)
𝐹𝐹𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓ℎ

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Calculation example for ATR72-212A (post-Modification No. 07696):

𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
𝑋𝑋𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 2
: 0.5%  0.005 (according to FAR 25.831(b), 2)
Aircraft Volume: 95 m3
Air change per hour: 10.51
72 passengers and 4 crew members
2 packs operative  𝐹𝐹𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓ℎ = 16.64 m3/min
P𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 (Cabin Pressure at 20000 ft)  12.42 psi
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 : 2% (mSR)  0.0134 m3 h-1Kg-1 (vSR) at cabin pressure of 12.42 psi
(refer to Appendix)
out
X CO 2
: 0.0314%  0.000314

𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
The 𝑋𝑋𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 can be calculated by means of (4):

14.7
𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
(2.5 × 10−4 × 72 + 5.83 × 10−4 × 4) 12.42 + 16.64 × 0.000314
𝑋𝑋𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 = = 0.00176
16.64

Therefore the maximum quantity of dry ice loading according to (3) is:

(0.005 − 0.00176) × 95 × 10.51

𝑄𝑄𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 = = 241 Kg
0.0134

As examples, hereafter are reported on the graphs the resulting max dry ice loading versus
sublimation rate for the following cases:

- 2 air conditioning packs operating with passengers at 20000 ft.

- 2 air conditioning packs operating for cargo operation (no passengers) at 20000 ft.

- 1 air conditioning pack operating (MMEL) for cargo operation (no passengers) at 17000 ft.

Considering:

- 4 crew members for flight with passengers.

- 3 crew members for cargo operation.

- 72 passengers for ATR72.

- 0 passenger for cargo operation.

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APPENDIX: Sublimation Volume rate depending on cabin altitude

FAA Advisory Circular 91-76A indicates that “One lb. of dry ice sublimates to 8.8 cubic feet of
CO2 gas. Thus a sublimation rate of 1% per hour provides 8.8 ft3 CO2 gas per 100 lbs.dry ice
per hour. In system international unit, this means that: a sublimation rate of 1% per hour
provides 0.55 m3 CO2 gas per 100 Kg dry ice per hour.

This is valid when considering conversion from sublimation mass rate "mSR" in Kg h-1Kg-1 into
sublimation volume rate "vSR" in m3 h-1Kg-1 at normal seal level conditon
(i.e., Pressure = 1013.25 mb and Temperature = 20°C) as presented here below:

mSR
vSR =
ρ𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2

With ρ𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 = CO2 density in Kg/m3

CO2 density is computed with the following:

Pressure [Pa]
ρ𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 =
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐[𝐽𝐽. 𝐾𝐾𝐾𝐾−1 . 𝐾𝐾 −1 ] × 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇[𝐾𝐾]

Cabin pressure = 101325 Pa at sea level

Gas constant CO2 = 188.9 J Kg-1 K-1

Temperature = 20°C = 293.15 K

101325
- ρ𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 =
188.9×293,15

ρ𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 = 1.830 kg/m3

For a sublimation rate of 1% for 100 kg of dry ice, the sublimation volume rate is:

mSR
vSR =
ρ𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2

1kg
vSR = = 0.55 𝑚𝑚3 . ℎ−1 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘−1 for 100 Kg of dry ice
1.830kg/m3

Thus a sublimation mass rate of 1% or 0.01 Kg h-1Kg-1 produces 0.0055 m3 h-1Kg-1 at sea level
and 20°C ambient temperature.

For dry ice transportation computation on ATR, sublimation volume rate used for dry ice
computation has to be computed depending on cabin pressure.

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You will find here below a table providing sublimation volume rate “vSR” depending on
sublimation mass rate “mSR” at different cabin pressure for an ambient temperature of 30°C.

NOTE: Ambient temperature of 30°C has been considered as being aft cargo temperature in
hot day condition. As a reminder Aft cargo do not have dedicated ECS ventilation.

Aircraft altitude (ft)

0 17000 20000 25000

Cabin pressure (psi)

14.70 12.86 13.01 12.42 12.60 11.45

Cabin pressure (Pa)

101325 88667 89701 85633 86874 78959

3 -1 -1
“mSR” Sublimation Volume rate “vSR” (m h Kg )

0.25% 0.0014 0.0016 0.0016 0.0017 0.0016 0.0018

0.50% 0.0028 0.0032 0.0032 0.0033 0.0033 0.0036

0.75% 0.0042 0.0048 0.0048 0.0050 0.0049 0.0054

1.00% 0.0057 0.0065 0.0064 0.0067 0.0066 0.0073

1.25% 0.0071 0.0081 0.0080 0.0084 0.0082 0.0091

1.50% 0.0085 0.0097 0.0096 0.0100 0.0099 0.0109

1.75% 0.0099 0.0113 0.0112 0.0117 0.0115 0.0127

2.00% 0.0113 0.0129 0.0128 0.0134 0.0132 0.0145

2.25% 0.0127 0.0145 0.0144 0.0150 0.0148 0.0163

2.50% 0.0141 0.0161 0.0160 0.0167 0.0165 0.0181

2.75% 0.0155 0.0178 0.0176 0.0184 0.0181 0.0199

3.00% 0.0170 0.0194 0.0192 0.0201 0.0198 0.0218

Table 1: CO2 sublimation volume rate depending on Sublimation mass rate and cabin
pressure

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NOTE: According to Cabin Pressure Control System (CPCS) Schedule, we assume that:

For aircraft with Modification No. 07696:

- Cruise at FL200: Cabin pressure is 12.42 psia

- Cruise at FL170: cabin pressure is 12.86 psia

For aircraft without Modification No. 07696:

- Cruise at FL200: Cabin pressure is 12.6 psia

- Cruise at FL170: Cabin pressure is 13.01 psia

Modification No. 07696 stands for “Air conditioning - Install New Air Management System
(NAMS) on ATR72.

As an example, when aircraft is cruising at 20000 ft with a cabin pressure of 12.6 psi, for a
sublimation mass rate of 2%, a sublimation volume rate of 0.0132 m3 h-1Kg-1 has to be
considered for dry ice load computation.

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