Fire Extinguisher Uses Sound Waves to Put Out Flames

George Mason University electrical engineering undergrads Viet Tran and Seth Robertson have created a fire extinguisher prototype that uses low-frequency sound waves to put out a fire. Initially, both students thought big speakers and high frequencies would douse a fire. "But it's low-frequency sounds -like the thump-thump bass in hip-hop that works," says Tran. Their 20-pound prototype is free of toxic chemicals and eliminates collateral damage from sprinkler systems. If mounted on drones, it could improve safety for firefighters confronting large forest fires or urban blazes. Researchers at DARPA and West Georgia University are also working on similar concepts.

Transcript

00:00:01 We're both graduating from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at George Mason University, this coming May. We're here, we're just gonna test out our device that we used, that uses sound frequencies to extinguish flames.
>> I see this device being applied to a lot of things. First off, I think in the kitchen, it could be on top of a stove top. But eventually, I would like to see this applied to maybe swarm robotics, where it would be attached to a drone. And that would be applied to forest fires, or even building fires, where you wouldn't want to sacrifice a human life.

00:00:34
>> Professor Bryan Mark really stepped in to help us.
>> Just gave us a lot of support.
>> I think, as a whole, engineering is really just finding solutions to, finding some solutions to complicated problems. Engineering is all about finding a way to make the impossible possible, so that's what we do.