Measuring Water Flow Rate for a Fire Hose Using a Wireless Sensor Network for Smart Fire Fighting

• Published in: Fire technology Vol. 57; no. 6; pp. 3125 - 3150
• Main Authors: Brown, Christopher U., Vogl, Gregory W., Tam, Wai Cheong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.11.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accelerometers; Blocking; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Civil Engineering; Classical Mechanics; Engineering; Fire fighting; Flow rates; Flow velocity; Graphical user interface; Physics; Piezoelectricity; Real time; Robustness; Sensors; Situational awareness; Vibrations; Water flow; Wireless sensor networks; Accelerometers; Wireless sensor network; Flow rate; Fire hose; Hose vibration; Smart fire fighting
• ISSN: 0015-2684; 1572-8099
• DOI: 10.1007/s10694-020-01054-1

A wireless sensor network was created to measure water-flow rate in a fire hose. An integrated electronic piezoelectric accelerometer was chosen as the sensor to measure the flow rate based on the vibrations generated by water flowing through a fire hose close to the hose nozzle. These sensors are small, lightweight, and they can attach to the outside of the hose, not obstructing the water’s flow path. A relationship between the dominant-frequency metric and the flow rate was applied and used to determine real-time water flow in a fire hose critical for improving fireground situational awareness. A nearly monotonic relationship of flow rate to the dominant frequency was established and then used in a custom graphical user interface for quick, real-time, visual referencing by fire personnel of flow rate in a fire hose. While more work is needed, such as improved physical robustness of the sensor-node assembly and increased robustness of the signal metric, this preliminary study shows the potential of a “smart” fire hose for improved situational awareness during a fire attack.