Application of Infrared Thermal Imaging Equipment in Firefighting and Emergency Rescue

Infrared is an electromagnetic wave that has the same nature as radio waves and visible light. The discovery of infrared light was a leap forward in our understanding of nature. Using a special electronic device to convert the temperature distribution of the object surface into an image visible to the human eye, and display the temperature distribution of the object surface in different colors, is called infrared thermal imaging technology, and this electronic device is called an infrared thermal imager.

Because it is related to the safety of people's life and property, it is necessary to use high technology to improve the efficiency of firefighters. Far-infrared rays have the good characteristics of penetrating smoke, and the infrared thermal imager passively absorbs the far-infrared rays emitted by the target to be observed. In the fire scene, it can detect the fire source, the people, and property needing rescue in time through the thick smoke and water mist. At the same time, it can effectively protect the safety of firefighters themselves.

In addition, a large number of facts at home and abroad show that the detection method based on thermal imaging technology plays a huge role in monitoring the operation of urban electrical equipment and electrical circuits and discovering hidden dangers in electrical equipment and electrical circuits. Prevent and reduce the occurrence of electrical fire accidents.

In the traditional fire search and rescue process, when the fire scene is covered with thick smoke and the visibility is extremely low, firefighters rely on touch, feel, and listening to blindly advance in the thick smoke, trying to save lives. Firefighters without thermal imaging cameras take up too much of their already limited rescue time by carefully walking and searching through thick smoke, avoiding obstacles, looking for doors and spaces, and this delay greatly reduces the number of people waiting to be rescued chance of rescue.

With thermal imaging, firefighters quickly spot people waiting to be rescued, and at the same time, firefighters are less at risk because they spend less time in dangerous environments. In such a complex environment, they can clearly identify all possible dangers that coexist with their work. Infrared has a very strong smoke penetration ability, allowing us to easily detect all heat sources, such as waiting for rescuers, flames, or other hazards. Thermal imaging cameras have been on the market for a long time and their superior performance has been well proven.

Thermal imaging cameras can be used to find hot spots and escaping gases that are invisible to the naked eye from the outside. These are hidden dangers and very dangerous for firefighters, where flashovers and backflows are easy to occur.

For example, in a room on fire, if the door is suddenly opened, it is very likely that a flashover will occur, the flame will burst, and the firefighters themselves will be endangered. With the help of a thermal imager, flashover and backflow can be easily detected, so it is an important tool for personal safety at fire scenes. Before opening the door, we can use an infrared thermal imager to observe the escaping steam. If the flow rate is slow, it means that its power is not too great, the pressure in the room behind is not very large, and the temperature is about 100-200 degrees Celsius. If the temperature rises to 200 degrees Celsius, the pressure will rise as the polymer in the room starts to burn, so we can see escaping gases containing phenolic polymers such as phenol, p-cresol, and sulfur dioxide. Sometimes the temperature will rise to 400 degrees Celsius, more and more gas will escape, the pressure will continue to increase, and the steam velocity will increase.

Open the door at this point and you can see that the fire is getting bigger and bigger as fresh oxygen is being drawn into the room through the open door. At about 500 degrees Celsius, other hydrocarbons (hydrocarbons) are produced and nearly flash. Near 600 degrees Celsius, the first flames burst out of the room, the first sign of a flashover. After a while, the flashover is over, the flames burst into the next room, and the cycle ends. Here, after the door is opened, oxygen is drawn in and the temperature rises from 250 degrees Celsius to 500 degrees Celsius quickly, thus creating a flashover. Without an alarm-capable thermal imager, firefighters might think such a room is safe and enter. After the flashover, the pressure in the room was very high, so we could see the gas being forced out of the room, even though the crack in the door. Since the entire combustion process after the flash burn consumes a lot of oxygen, the fire is reduced, and the danger of backflow is created at this time. The eruption and inhalation of the gas under the door gap is the main reason for the backflow.

After opening the door, hot gases flow out of the room, but right away we can see them flowing out of the room along with the oxygen. A strong airflow to a well-burning flame can also be a foreshadowing of backflow. When the fire is deprived of oxygen for a long time, there is a concentration of dangerous unburned gases in the room. With thermal imaging cameras, we can spot them. Again a possible backflow is indicated very clearly. After the door was opened, the fire grew on its own. Instead of an explosive backflow, a flash fire was used to control the fire by spraying water on the roof at 45 degrees to cool the burning hot gases. Firefighters can effectively protect themselves and improve the efficiency of firefighting and rescue due to the unique function of thermal imaging cameras being sensitive to heat.

Therefore, the modern technology of thermal imaging cameras not only provides us with the possibility of finding rescuers waiting in the thick smoke but also becomes an effective guarantee tool for personal safety.

The above describes the application of infrared thermal imaging equipment in firefighting and emergency rescue in detail. If you want to buy infrared thermal imaging equipment, please contact us.

JAVOL is a professional custom infrared thermal imaging equipment manufacturer. Relying on the multi-spectral high-sensitivity photoelectric sensor chip of advanced compound semiconductor materials, with deep learning AI algorithm as the engine, integrating low-light night vision technology, infrared thermal imaging technology, short-wave infrared technology, and multi-spectral fusion technology, our company designs, develops and manufactures Advanced imaging products and system solutions are widely used in firefighting, machine vision, autonomous driving, drone loads, high-end manufacturing and medical diagnosis.