The Pyrotron is a device designed to help
firefighter
A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...
s better understand how to combat the rapid spread of
bush fire
A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a bushfire ( in Australia), desert ...
s in Australia.
Design and use
The Pyrotron consists of a 25m
wind tunnel
A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments". The experiment is conducted in the test section of the wind tunnel and a complete tunnel configuration includes air ducting to and f ...
.
It allows researchers to "gain a better understanding of the physical processes involved in the behavior and spread of bush fires under a range of conditions."
Prior tests of the spread of brush fires used to be conducted in open fields. But such tests often yielded inconclusive and frustrating results wind and weather interfered with the tests.
The closed nature of the Pyrotron enables researchers to carry out tests under consistent conditions without need for unpredictable variables. The data of these tests, the
CSIRO
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications.
CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...
website notes, is recorded by a myriad of sensors and high speed, as well as
thermal camera
Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video or thermal imaging, is a process where a thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are examples of infrared im ...
s. By testing different types of fuel and wind speeds, bushfire researchers are able to create predictive models of the spread of fires based on the local
topography
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...
of the region at risk, thus enabling firefighters to better combat the
conflagration
A conflagration is a large fire in the built environment that spreads via structure to structure ignition due to radiant or convective heat, or ember transmission. Conflagrations often damage human life, animal life, health, and/or property. A c ...
s.
References
External links
The Pyrotron at world of Trons
Firefighting in Australia
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