A research into the potential application of unmanned aerial vehicles in the fire extinguishing of high-rise buildings and structures

Abstract

Introduction. Fires in high-rise buildings and structures constitute a grave danger both to the people inside, valuables, and the building structure. More often than not, fires develop on the external surface of construction facilities that are in operation or inside those facilities that are under construction, and they give rise to the problem of using standard fire extinguishing solutions and require the employment of mobile machinery by fast response units of the fire-fighting service who apply fire extinguishing agents from the outside of a building. The purpose of this article is to substantiate the in expediency of, or, on the contrary, the need to make the proposed amendments to Federal Law No. 123-FZ of July 22, 2008 “Technical Regulation of Fire Safety Requirements”.The scope of the problem. The analysis of the effectiveness of various methods of application of fire extinguishing agents used to extinguish outdoor fires in high-rise buildings has shown the insufficiently high efficiency of ground-mounted machinery, which preconditions the need to make an enquiry into the possibility of using aircraft to extinguish high-rise buildings and structures. Given the need to ensure effective fire extinguishing, meet safety and economic feasibility requirements, an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (AURA) was selected as the delivery vehicle. Systems using various fire extinguishing agents and methods of their application were used for fire extinguishing purposes, including a pulsed water application system, capsules containing the fire extinguishing composition, high-pressure water mist and compressed air foam. Their applicability at the height of 300 meters has determined their choice.Research results. The testing task was to confirm the possibility of application of fire extinguishing agents to the fire seat in the course of the flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle, to identify the effectiveness of fire extinguishing agents and to assess the stability of extinguishing agents applied to the fire seat. To ensure safety, testing was carried out at the height not exceeding 10 m, and the results confirmed the possibility of using the above substances to extinguish fires.Conclusions. The research has confirmed the possibility of using unmanned aerial vehicles and various methods of fire extinguishing by means of the horizontal application of extinguishing agents inside high-rise buildings and structures, if extinguishing agents are applied from outside of a construction facility.