Australian Pump Industries , leaders in the development of high pressure fire pumps for bush fire fighting applications, have developed a revolutionary fire kit designed to fog fires with minimal water usage. Prototype tests demonstrated that the machine can throw a "fog" jet providing a new dimension of fire fighting with minimal water usage.
The new machine uses a 42 litre per minute flow triplex style plunger pump that develops 2000 psi pressure rating. It is that unique combination of flow and pressure that provides the fog system to dowse fires where water supply is limited.
Aussie Pump engineers use a "Big Berty" Bertolini heavy duty piston pump running at 1450rpm as the heart of the system. The pump is driven through a gear box or, reduction drive, from a big 24HP Honda industrial petrol engine.
An adjustable unloader that enables the operator to adjust pressure up to 2000 psi is standard equipment and a safety relief valve is supplied to protect both the machine and operator from pressure spikes.
The prototype unit is built inside a heavy duty galvanised frame with 4 big pneumatic tyres. A 20 litre extended running fuel tank was built into the machine to allow continuous operation for up to four hours. "Flow of the fogger can be adjusted through engine revs as the pump is positive displacement in concept and design," said Aussie Pumps Operations Manager John Hales. "We use a turbine style ‘tommy gun’ to provide an infinite range of control of the jet from direct to fine fog" he said.
Initial tests show the machine can throw a jet 25 metres. The engineers at Aussie are still working on the machine and are targeting to modify it so that it can throw a direct jet up to 40 metres.
Australian Pump welcomes input from experienced fire fighters as they further develop this new concept in water economic fire fighting apparatus.
