DARPA Blasts Sound At Fire To Extinguish It - Firefighting Revolution!
If there is a even a minor fire in an aircraft cockpit or a ship, there is unavoidable loss of invaluable property. So, back in 2008, DARPA launched the Instant Fire Suppression (IFS) program for transforming the way the military extinguishes fire flames. Traditionally, we have been using techniques to disrupt the chemical reactions in combustion. But, if you look from the eye of a physicist, these flames are nothing but cold plasmas. Taking this into account, the folks at DARPA studied the interaction of electromagnetic and acoustic waves with the plasma in a flame.
Going the electric way, they explored that a handheld electrode can suppress small methane gas and liquid fuel fires, because the electric field creates an ionic wind that blows out the flame.
#-Link-Snipped-#
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Paul Kelly
In another technique, DARPA showed that if speakers directed at the flame, were blasted with sound at specific frequencies, it would extinguish the flame. Marvelous, isn't it? This is achieved by the acoustic field that increases the air velocity, which in turn reduces the flame boundary layer. So, it flame-disruption becomes easy. Furthermore, the acoustic field triggers higher fuel vaporization that drops the overall flame temperature. Check out a video demo -
Via: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - Content not found
Going the electric way, they explored that a handheld electrode can suppress small methane gas and liquid fuel fires, because the electric field creates an ionic wind that blows out the flame.
#-Link-Snipped-#
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Paul Kelly
In another technique, DARPA showed that if speakers directed at the flame, were blasted with sound at specific frequencies, it would extinguish the flame. Marvelous, isn't it? This is achieved by the acoustic field that increases the air velocity, which in turn reduces the flame boundary layer. So, it flame-disruption becomes easy. Furthermore, the acoustic field triggers higher fuel vaporization that drops the overall flame temperature. Check out a video demo -
Via: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - Content not found
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