Prediction of dry ice mass for firefighting robot actuation
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Date
2017-11
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Abstract
The limitation in the performance of electric actuated firefighting robots in hightemperature fire environment has led to research on the alternative propulsion system for the
mobility of firefighting robots in such environment. Capitalizing on the limitations of these
electric actuators we suggested a gas-actuated propulsion system in our earlier study. The
propulsion system is made up of a pneumatic motor as the actuator (for the robot) and carbon
dioxide gas (self-generated from dry ice) as the power source. To satisfy the consumption
requirement (9cfm) of the motor for efficient actuation of the robot in the fire environment, the
volume of carbon dioxide gas, as well as the corresponding mass of the dry ice that will
produce the required volume for powering and actuation of the robot, must be determined. This
article, therefore, presents the computational analysis to predict the volumetric requirement and
the dry ice mass sufficient to power a carbon dioxide gas propelled autonomous firefighting
robot in a high-temperature environment. The governing equation of the sublimation of dry ice
to carbon dioxide is established. An operating time of 2105.53s and operating pressure ranges
from 137.9kPa to 482.65kPa were achieved following the consumption rate of the motor. Thus,
8.85m3 is computed as the volume requirement of the CAFFR while the corresponding dry ice
mass for the CAFFR actuation ranges from 21.67kg to 75.83kg depending on the operating
pressure.
Description
Keywords
Dry ice mass, Firefighting robot actuation
Citation
Ajala, M. T., Khan, M. R., Shafie, A. A., Salami, M. J. E., & Nor, M. M. (2017, November). Prediction of dry ice mass for firefighting robot actuation. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 260, No. 1, p. 012023). IOP Publishing.