Automatization of individual anti-thermal protection of rescuers in the initial period of fire suppression

Abstract

The problem of protection of rescuers from thermal injuries at the initial stage of fire suppression was explored. The authors substantiated structural components of the autonomous device for individual protection of rescuers from thermal injuries at the initial stage of emergency elimination, mainly during the site reconnaissance, when means of fire suppression and thermal protection of rescuers are not deployed yet. The automatic autonomous thermoprotective device, the structural system of which contains hydraulic and automatic parts, was proposed. The hydraulic part includes: the tank, pipelines for feeding a cooling agent, the atomizer, and the shutter of the electromagnetic valve. The tank is filled with the cooling agent under pressure. The shutter of the valve is located on the neck of the tank and in the initial state overlaps the pipeline. The atomizer is fixed on a rescuer’s helmet. The automatic part of the device consists of the control unit with the autonomous battery, located in the under-clothing space, the temperature sensor and the driving part of the electromagnetic valve. The model and the model sample of the autonomous thermoprotective device were tested under laboratory conditions. Testing results demonstrated workability of the proposed technical solution and possibility of operation in automatic mode. Effectiveness of cooling the rescuer’s body by periodic sprinkling of the surface of special protective clothing was proved. The device timely reacted to the temperature change in the under-clothing space and automatically cooled down the surface of special firefighter clothing within five seconds. Pulse mode of device operation provides economical consumption of a cooling agent and an increase in the duration of rescuer’s protection from thermal injuries. External sprinkling for the purpose of cooling helps counteract thermal destruction of fabric of the special clothes for firefighters and increase their operation term