Measuring water flow rate for a fire hose using a wireless sensor network for smart fire fighting

Abstract

A wireless sensor network was created to measure water-flow rate in a fire hose. An integrated electronic piezoelectric (IEPE) 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 dominantfrequency 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 increase robustness of the signal metric, this preliminary study showed the potential of a "smart" fire hose for improved situational awareness during a fire attack.

Measuring water flow rate for a fire hose using wired accelerometers for smart fire fighting

“…Based on the front accelerometer results for the dominant frequency, determined both by the water flow testing and by impact testing, the dominant frequency metric was chosen as the main metric for application with the wireless accelerometer network for real-time flow rate, which will be the next step in this research [3]. One dominant frequency corresponds to a single flow rate.…”

“…The next step in this research, documented in a second NIST technical note [3], will be to develop the wired accelerometer system into a wireless sensor network and apply a metric based on dominant frequency and other measures to robustly determine water flow rate in a fire hose. The final step will be to use the wireless accelerometer network and finalized metric to determine real-time flow in a fire hose to improve fireground situational awareness.…”

“…The wired sensors were piezoelectric accelerometers and the dominant frequency and standard deviation of acceleration of the water flow vibrations on the hose were examined as possible metrics to determine flow rate. A second NIST technical note report will describe the wireless sensor network and real-time flow measurements [3].…”

Measuring water flow rate for a fire hose using a wireless sensor network for smart fire fighting :

“…The goal of this report is to provide an update on experiments that have occurred since the previous reports [1][2][3][4] and to outline future work. This report explores:…”

“…The next phase involved developing a wireless sensor network using an accelerometer epoxied to the exterior fabric of a flexible fire hose and the dominant frequency metric [2,4]. A single hose condition, the hose stationary on the ground, was used throughout those experiments.…”