Efficient Foam Delivery To Combat Wildfires
Wesley Chau | Raymond Constantine | Eder Landgrave | Juan Ramirez
Sponsored by: Larry Sukay & Jim McKim
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | Jacobs School of Engineering| University of California, San Diego
The traditional method of fighting wildland fires is very inefficient due to the manner in which fire retardant or pure water is dropped over the location of said fire. The current method employed sees 40-60 percent of the fire retardant fluid be absorbed into soil or structures local to the fire instead of the fire itself. This system of wildland fire fighting has gone relatively unchanged since its inception in the mid 1950's. Larry Sukay and Jim McKim of Western States Fire LLC. have set out to change the methodology of wildland fire fight by implementing a foam retardant foaming machine, think of a bubble maker for fighting fires. This "bubble maker" allows for the fluid (bubble in nature) to be better dispersed over the fire and to not loose its H2O molecules so quickly to the soil or structure below. The action that prevents the loss is defined by the bubble popping once in contact with the flame and not the surface below, thus potentially eliminating the loss of fluid to areas that that have no affect on combating the fire.
Current Methodology:
Existing aerial solutions (dumping) are inefficient
Foam solution is more effective
