Waterproof Characteristics of Fire Pumps for Fire-fighting Vehicles

Abstract

The water shooting performance of existing fire pump vehicles was found to be insufficient when extinguishing fire at the Go-yang Reservoir, and thus, the need for a high-pressure pump was raised. Therefore, the National Fire Agency enforced the standard for high-pressure pumps as 4.0 MPa; further, they categorized fire pumps into general pumps and high-pressure pumps. In this study, an empirical experiment was conducted on the water shooting characteristics of a high-pressure pump by manufacturing a device equipped with a high-pressure pump that conformed to the abovementioned standards. A water shooting test similar to fire suppression activities was conducted by connecting fire hoses and nozzles at a straight distance of 300 m. The experiment confirmed that, based on the pump pressure of 1.5 MPa, the tip pressure considerably fluctuated during water shooting, and the difference in pressure loss rate at the low-pressure and high-pressure outlets was confirmed. Because these characteristics threaten the safety of fire-fighters during field activities, a need was confirmed for technology development that can improve the limit on the tip pressure increase in the high pressure pump standard and the rapid pressure increase.