The newly developed fire nozzle from the Naval Air Warfare Center is tested at the Allegheny County Fire Facility in North Park, Pa.

The Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) of Lakehurst, N.J., has been actively developing an environmentally benign water nozzle system to replace halon fire extinguishing systems. The nozzle was recently featured in a product demonstration by the Fire Academy of Allegheny County in collaboration with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire and the University of Pittsburgh's National Center for First Responders. The demonstration, which took place at the Academy's training facility in North Park, Pa., was also attended by International Aero, licensee of the nozzle technology, and GeoCenters, Inc., which provides technology transfer assistance to NAWC.

The nozzle, invented by Joe Wolfe, effectively atomizes water into droplets on the order of 10 to 100 micrometers in diameter using water and air pressures on the order of 20 psi (a standard hose operates at around 50 psi). Compared to conventional hoses, this system results in a much more efficient use of water to quench and smother various types of fires in a variety of situations, environments and conditions.

The benefits of this water delivery nozzle include a potential substantial decrease in hose size and weight to sizes on the order of a garden-sized hose. This eliminates back momentum forces on a fire hose such that a firefighter conceivably could hold the hose and direct its flow with one hand and, if used in conjunction with foam mixtures, could reduce of the amount and cost of foam solutions.

For more information, contact Dr. Kevin Smith at Tech-Scouts, (724) 539-8310, ksmith@techscouts.net.