Forest fire control 2

 Idea published on August 3, 2023

One of the most difficult problems to manage is the lack of water for the systems described above, which can be seen in the following link. http://ideasxx.blogspot.com/2012/06/control-of-forest-fires.html

The distance from natural springs of water and the impossibility of accessing groundwater, either due to its depth or the inconvenience of moving drilling rigs to the area. It forces us to look for different solutions. In recent times, atmospheric humidity capture systems have appeared, either through a network, where drops of water are deposited by ambient humidity.

Other systems is that of capturing humidity, by which it is introduced into various isolated tubes, producing the condensation of said drops, and spilling into a beaker.

In figure 1 we can see a simple system for capturing humidity. It consists of four appreciable parts. The first is the upper catchment area, which consists of two tubes and a funnel, through which humid air enters the inner tube, which is isolated by an upper tube; this produces the first temperature change facilitating the first phase of condensation. The inner tube is connected to another finer tube, covered with an insulating layer, this is at a depth of two meters. At a depth of two meters, the temperature difference with respect to the surface is approximately 16 Cº. This allows condensation to accelerate.

Although it is a very simple and cheap collection method, which does not require any additional energy, it is estimated that with an ambient humidity of 11%, about 100 ml per day would be collected.

This system does not stop producing water, unless the front part of the funnel is covered. Although in the control systems this problem could be foreseen, activating the sprinkler system, to eliminate excess water.

An innovative system is the one shown in figure 2, in which a design with a Peltier plate can be seen. When a potential difference is applied, said plates produce heat on one side and cold on the other. This system is not very efficient, but under certain conditions it gives acceptable water production. It is located on each side of the Peltier heatsink plate. One of the heatsinks, the one on the hot side, includes forced ventilation (Fan, Cooler). A heatsink is also incorporated on the cold side, in this case, it does not have forced ventilation. On this side, the ambient humidity condenses and these condensation droplets accumulate at the bottom of the tank in the form of water. By putting several, as shown in figure 2, more water accumulates in less time.

Both systems have their deficiencies, perhaps the combination of both with the best result.

To improve the extension of the irrigation, we can add a telescopic arm to the tower. This will allow to cover more spray area.

The arm that I propose in Figure 3 is a model with two internal hydraulic pistons which push telescopic tubes. The central tube at its base has wheels or bearings, this facilitates the movement of the other two remaining tubes.

The hose that joins the sprinkler nozzles must be long to support the extension of the telescopic arm. And a dustpan when the arms retract.

The telescopic arms pose another challenge, since a hydraulic system is needed for the circuit. This at the very least requires a hydraulic pump and increases the electricity consumption of the overall system.

At the bottom left, a complete system can be seen.

That is all for now!!