The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
Using sound waves to extinguish fire?
"I throw more power into my voice, and now the flame is extinguished," wrote Irish scientist John Tyndall about his experiments with sound and fire in 1857. Countless public demonstrations and a handful of lab tests later, researchers are still struggling to determine exactly how sound can extinguish flames. Sound travels in waves, which are simply variations of pressure in a medium—whether solid, liquid or gas. The energy from vibrating objects, such as speaker membranes, moves from particle to particle in the air in a repeating pattern of high- and low-pressure zones that we perceive as sound. According to the ideal gas law, temperature, pressure and volume are related; therefore, a decrease in pressure can lead to a corresponding decrease in temperature, which may explain how sound can extinguish a flame.
Skeptical? This is obviously a very small example of this concept, but just think... this may be a way to subsidize your fire department. The speaker size alone will be enough to handle most smaller concerts...
The video I was looking for, and this goes back several years, showed a glass enclosed room with tires that were ignited using diesel fuel. The smoke production as you can imagine was intense, quickly filling the test chamber. When sound waves were introduced, you could see the smoke literally 'clump' together, falling to the floor as a solid material, and the fire went out...
This could be a glimpse into how firefighting may be handled in the future. Don't think this is to far off... Have you ever heard of a company responding to a structure fire, tenting the structure as if it had termites and injecting the structure with ozone? Sounds kind of hazmat like maybe?
Ozone works to COMPLETELY remove any smell of smoke from the structure, furniture, everything. This practice is common in europe but yet does not even exist here in the states.
Technology is out there, but are you willing to adapt to new ways of doing business?
Remember the real reason why dinosaurs became extinct... Don't be a dinosaur... Science and technology have proven why smoking is not a good thing, but yet we continue to ignore the warnings... We really need to learn from others if we want to move forward. This includes being aware of the obvious and in some cases, the not so obvious, like sound waves being used to extinguish fire.
TCSS,
CBz
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Aaron Mannan on
-
Think we can adapt this concept to make it a little more fun for us wildland guys? (and gals)
you know, maybe some Foghat?
Take care and be safe yall
-
Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
-
CBz,
Back in the day, I had a Battalion Chief who would yell and scream at the fire.
The sound waves didn't seem to reduce the wonders of combustion at all.
-
Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
-
BZY, so theoretically the sound of our Q siren en route to the fire should be enough to blow out the fire. Or several all pointed at the burning structure should do it.
-
Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
-
Well... actually, wildland firefighting has the ability right now to encompass a split computer screen, on the left is real-time satellite imagery and on the right side is what the computer generates using a program called Cellular Automata. Real time weather data, shapefiles (.shp) from ARCview data, fire history, etc., the user can do tactics on the computer screen before committing resources. It's all statistics but another cool tool to use when making decisions about how to deal with a fire, specially when using trigger point concepts for wildland firefighting...
I suppose it should be mentioned that we also have the technology right now to use lasers to set backfires, instead of fusees, flares, drip torches or a Berry Gun. I for one am into using technology instead of boots on the ground whenever possible. And don't think we are thinking of anything new or cutting edge here. This has been tried before years ago, really!
This vehicle screams Oregon Chief Sharp!
And maybe, just for you Aaron, research could confirm that specific "Foghat" songs (Slow Ride for example) would generate the proper sound frequencies to stop the process of decomposition that as you are well aware generates aldehydes, ketones, organic vapors and mists and in some cases radical hydrocarbon chains... all bad players when considering exposure and your health.
-
-
sound waves are one thing Ben, but too much hot air is another... in fact, some say that too much hot air leads to increased combustion potential... go figure.
-
-
nope, you have to use directional speakers that can have specific sound waves produced... at least theoretically speaking this is what you might want to have on hand...
-
Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
-
Check out the BULLEX ITS system- it uses sound waves to extinguish fires on the training props
http://www.bullexsafety.com/its.aspx
-
Permalink Reply by DUST on
-
I thought I would give your new technology a try so I carried in a stereo into a room and contents fire we had the other night....things did not go so well...Thanks a lot!
-
-
this is so cool... you being willing to take part in our own FFN study about sound waves... I hope the property owner waved goodbye to his speakers... that's the only wave you'll see on this one, except maybe me waving bye bye... later bro, CBz
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
