HB1 | Devpost

Fire Fighting Bot
We added 24gm of salt to 120ml of water and the water did not freeze.
We added 12gm of salt to 120ml of water and the water froze a little.
We did not add salt to 120ml of water and the water froze completly.

Inspiration

The firefighters risk their lives and fight against all odds even at the extreme climatic conditions in HAA. Static water tanks (SWTs) are used currently in the firefighting ammunition echelons in HAA. The portable fire pumps are used to pump water from the SWTs. The water freezes at such low temperatures. Firefighting at HAA is considered a tedious job as ice is formed above the water to a thickness of about 500mm. The ice has to be broken fast to take immediate actions to put out the fire. This problem is chosen as many soldiers stay in HAA not having immediate access to fire extinguishing methods.

What it does

Prevents freezing of water into ice in High Altitude areas.

How we built it

We could add salt to the existing water to make it saltwater. The freezing point of fresh water is 0˚C but the freezing point of saltwater is -2˚C. The freezing point of water can be lowered by adding salt. Therefore, the greater the concentration of salt, the lower the freezing point and the better the desired result. A saturated solution of saltwater has a freezing point as low as -21˚C. This makes saltwater an ideal solution as it also puts out the fire just like normal water. The biggest advantage to the solution is that there is no salt tax in India and it is also easily available at lower costs in large quantities.

Challenges we ran into

When salt water is used, we faced problems with corrosion on the surfaces. The aluminum oxide formed as a result of corrosion would protect from further corrosion. An additional method is to give powder coating through electrostatic spray deposition to the aluminum tank that stores water.