The efficiency of water mist in beating fires is no secret in the firefighter community. Water mist has a greater cooling effect and needs less water at the same time. The problem so far was, that with traditional methods and tools nothing could bring water mist at long distances. The idea of using a turbine to atomize the water into fine water mist, brought two successful players together: Magirus and EmiControls. In 2014, both companies decided to combine state-of-the-art turbine technique with over 150 years’ experience in the field of firefighting vehicles and technology and to collaborate in the development of an innovative firefighting concept: The “Magirus AirCore”.
Highly efficient operating in chemical industries without endangering firefighters
Wacker Chemie AG (Germany) positions itself as pioneer in the field of chemical industries when it has been purchasing a Magirus AirCore TAF firefighting robot in 2015. The Burghausen plant, Wacker’s principal production site and the largest chemical site in Bavaria, is using to this day two completely remote controlled AirCore vehicles to protect pipeline openings or incipient fires.
The AirCore TAF already demonstrated its strengths during an operation in July 2017 when a fire developed in the chemical production site after the leakage of a corrosive and flammable liquid, which immediately combusted. Initial extinguishing attempts were only moderately successful. “We used the remote control to direct the AirCore TAF35 safely to the fire, raise the turbine with the lift arm and – thanks to the built-in camera system – directly targeted the source of the fire, without endangering any firefighters,” explains Mr. Bucci, Department Head of Technology at Wacker. “Water or foam was selectively and efficiently used for direct firefighting. No comparable fire truck on the market can do this.” He was particularly surprised at the low noise level of the AirCore TAF35. Even at maximum performance, efficient communication amongst the team members was possible.
With the Evonik Industries AG, another world-wide leading specialty chemicals company has lately placed an AirCore TAF35 in service.
Revolutionary concept: mobile firefighting turbine
The Magirus AirCore concept is based on the idea to use forced air plus nebulized water or foam to control a fire in a short time with less water. It combines three operations in one machine:
- VENTILATION to push out smoke and temperature and carry nebulized drops
- COOL-DOWN the fire temperature and gas emission
- EXTINGUISH fire
The heart of the concept is the innovative high-performance firefighting turbine. The advantage of using a turbine is that the water jet can reach a distance of up to 80 metres. Compared with conventional monitors, the droplets produced by these mist cannons are smaller and are sprayed by a propeller. These small droplets have a relatively large surface area and therefore a large heat-transfer area. The fine mist also has a lower rate of deposition and can reach hidden areas of the fire source better.
Firefighting robot or truck – two solutions allowing fire brigades to be ready in any situations
AirCore TAF = Firefighting robot: Implemented as a remote-controlled firefighting robot, the turbine can access the operation site without putting firefighters lives in danger. A wide range of options like winches, forks, GPS geo system or a rail way kit make this robot a multi-versatile and flexible firefighting machine.
AirCore Truck = turbine aided firefighting vehicle: If the turbine is mounted on a truck chassis, it can be, raised to 50°, and lowered to -20°. The drive is electric or electro-hydraulic and needs only 25 kW of drive power – an advantage in terms of the reduction in requirements for the chassis. E.g. built on an Iveco Daily 4×4, the AirCore is a highly maneuverable vehicle for off-road use, which offers fire brigades a variety of tactical advantages in operations.
AirCore firefighting trucks at Audi and BMW plants
Since a couple of weeks an Magirus AirCore firefighting truck is located in Mexico in San Luis Potosi at BMW. A new plant will be built here with planned production start in 2019 where the AirCore mounted on Dodge Ram will be in service. Already in 2015, another AirCore firefighting truck based on a MAN chassisruck was sent to Mexico, this time to the Audi AG plant in San José Chiapa, Puebla. The 12th plant in the Audi production network has been put in operation in 2016 and is producing the premium SUV Audi Q5.
Besides chemical, petrochemical or automotive sectors, the highly efficient AirCore firefighting technique can also be used effectively in forest, tunnel firefighting or terroristic attack scenarios as well as on airports or industrial facilities of electro technology or mining industries.
For more information, go to www.magirusgroup.com/en/aircore
