Two senior engineering majors Seth Robertson (23) and Viet Tran (28) from George Mason University appear to have invented and built a way to use sound waves to put out fires in seconds . It looks to be successful in beginning testing.
Usually fire extinguisher works by smothering the fire: when you put a layer of powder or foam on the fire, you cut the fuel off from the oxygen around it, and the fire goes out. This new design of extinguisher simply emits low-frequency sounds in the direction of the fire.
They have constructed it using a power source, amplifier, sound generator, and focusing tube.It has currently cost around $600. Tran told the Washington Post, explaining how the apparatus works.He said,” pressure waves, and they displace some of the oxygen,” and At the right frequency, the sound waves “separate the oxygen [in the fire] from the fuel,”. “The pressure wave is going back and forth, and that agitates where the air is. That specific space is enough to keep the fire from reigniting.”
They think the concept could replace the toxic and messy chemicals involved in fire extinguishers. They tried ultra-high frequencies, such as 20,000 or 30,000 hertz, and could see the flames vibrating but not going out. They took it down low, and at the range of 30 to 60 hertz, the fires began to extinguish.Local fire department have showed interest in the device.
