A fire is caused when heat energy is introduced to a fuel along with an oxidation agent. A fire will continue to burn as long as the fuel, oxidation agent, and heat energy are still present in the system.
Historically, the most popular method of extinguishing a fire is with the use of water. Water can extinguish a fire by removing the heat energy from the above listed elements needed for a fire. Specifically, when water is introduced into a fire that is burning a fuel source the water will coat the fuel source such that when the heat energy is introduced to the water saturated fuel source the water will vaporize thereby cooling the system. Additionally, when water is introduced to a fire system the heat energy will vaporize the water, and water vapor will displace the oxygen, which acts as the oxidation agent in a typical fire system. Therefore, when the water is vaporized it asphyxiates the fire.
However, water has been found to be an inefficient way to suppress a fire. A more ideal fire suppressing solution is a foam. Foam is a better fire suppressant than water because it adheres to the fuel source better than water alone does. Because it adheres to the source of fuel for the heat energy better than water, the foam is capable of removing more heat energy by the fact that more foam is present on the fuel source of the system.
In such systems, compressed air is used to help produce the foam. The foam is produced when water is mixed with a foam concentrate, which is aided by the introduction of compressed air. Not only does the compressed air help to mix the foam concentrate and the water but also helps to propel the foam solution when actually being applied to the fire.
Typically, the foam is applied to a fire from a fire truck. The fire truck usually has access to water from a fire hydrant. The fire truck usually has a storage tank for the foam concentrate and an air compressor to compress air for use in creating a foam and applying that foam to the fire. To control this mixing and application, the fire truck is operated by firemen who control the application of the foam in order to best extinguish the fire.
The process of adding compressed air to water and foam concentrate to form the fire extinguishing foam is manually managed by the firemen present during a fire. Creating the compressed air foam mixture requires the firemen managing the situation to monitor the flow of water, the quantity of foam concentrate, whether foam is flowing, and the temperature of the air compressor in order to determine if the system is capable of generating the foam. This is a complicated task considering that it must be done under the high stress situation typically experienced by firemen. Because this task is complicated and must be done under stressful conditions many firemen will not use the current devices on the market.
Therefore, there is a need for a fire control system that monitors the water flow, foam concentrate level, foam flow, and the air compressor temperature that does not require the complete attention of the firemen present at the scene.
Embodiments of the invention provide such a fire control system. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the various embodiments of invention provided herein.