Smart Fire Extinguisher for Spacecraft

Principle Investigator:
Prof. HUANG Xinyan, Associate Professor, Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering; Co-founder, Widemount Dynamics Tech Limited (a PolyU startup)

Water cannot be used to extinguish fires in spacecraft because suspended water droplets can cause short circuits. Our air vortex ring fire extinguishing device addresses this, using AI to automatically detect and target fires. It generates air vortex rings via a pressure regulation system to extinguish flames efficiently and autonomously. The vortex rings propagate stably in microgravity, offering stronger fire-extinguishing capabilities and better energy efficiency than traditional firefighting blowers.

The compact device is easy to integrate into various areas of a spacecraft. By using only ambient air as a medium, it avoids the storage space and residue issues associated with traditional fire extinguishers. It can also be combined with advanced systems such as carbon dioxide, inert gases, UAVs and robots to achieve superior results, enhancing the safety of space missions and astronaut well-being. By incorporating a vacuum pump, this technology can also be adapted for diverse firefighting scenarios on Earth.