Quantification of radiative attenuation provided by fire hose nozzles

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the radiative protection provided by various fire hose nozzles used by several Fire Rescue Services in France and to propose an experimental set-up to quantify it. This study combined the use of radiative sources (a radiant panel or a fire inside a standard shipping container) and metrological devices (radiative heat sensors, IR camera and spectrometer) to estimate the radiative attenuation of water sprays used to protect the firefighters against thermal effects which occur during a fire. For all the fire hose nozzles tested in this work, the maximal effective attenuation reaches 75%. For most of them, an increase of the flow rate improves the radiative attenuation. However, this study shows that a similar attenuation can be reached for different flow rates, suggesting that the droplet size diameter and the droplet volume fraction also play a significant role in the efficiency of the provided spray.