Two senior engineering students from George Mason University have developed a new fire extinguisher that uses sound waves to put out flames.
Viet Tran and Seth Robertson started a senior project to demonstrate what they learned and how they uncovered a new way to fight fires. Tran and Robertson want to start small, like mounting a device over a stove-top to put out kitchen fires, but hope it can be used on a larger scale to fight building and forest fires.
Tran states, in their YouTube video, that someday he wants to see it attached to a drone where the lives of human beings would not be at risk.
The extinguisher looks similar to a typical fire extinguisher. However, it gives off a low hum that pushes out sound waves that blow out the flames instead of shooting water or chemicals.
What are the advantages of this new way of fighting fires? The more traditional ways of fighting fires are through chemicals or water. Chemicals coat everything to put out the flames, but they are extremely difficult to clean up. Water will also put out the fire but also ruin anything that the fire hasn’t already. With sound waves, there is no mess and damage is kept to a minimum.
Many students were discouraged by the undertaking that Tran and Robertson had to face in designing their senior project. Professor Brian Mark, their mentor, told CNN, “Some students take the safe path, but Viet and Seth took the higher-risk option.”
The school is helping the two students secure a patent for their new invention.
