Design and Development of Low Frequency Wave Based Fire Extinguisher

Abstract

The project titled Designing of Fire Extinguisher Based on Sound Waves is associated with new technique of fire extinguisher. Deals with the firefighting operations with a quick response time. The purpose of sound wave extinguisher is to find out the range of frequency within which fire can be extinguished. It helps the fire fighter to fight the fire at early stage. Fire can be extinguished between 40Hz to 60Hz and the sound wave can extinguish the fire of all types of flames. The fire suppression needs to be done at the incipient stage where the heat and flame produced by the fire is at the minimum point. The expected outcome of the project will be, to counter the fire at its initial stage for better human safety and protection.

Introduction

The project presents a Sound Wave Fire Extinguisher, an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional fire extinguishers that use water, foam, or chemicals. Traditional extinguishing agents often leave residue and may have environmental impacts, whereas the proposed system uses low-frequency sound waves (40–60 Hz) to extinguish fires without chemicals or liquids.

The system works by generating low-frequency acoustic waves that create pressure fluctuations around the flame. These pressure variations disrupt the combustion process by reducing the oxygen available to the fire, enabling the flame to be extinguished quickly during its early (incipient) stage. As a result, the system is clean, residue-free, easy to operate, and environmentally safe.

The methodology explains the fundamentals of fire suppression, including the Fire Triangle, which consists of heat, fuel, and oxygen. Since fire requires all three elements to sustain combustion, removing any one of them extinguishes the fire. The project relies on the smothering principle, where sound waves reduce the oxygen supply around the flame. The paper also describes the two main types of sound waves—longitudinal and transverse—and outlines the four major fire classes (A, B, C, and D).

The proposed system consists of a 5V DC power supply, an STM32 microcontroller, a 16×4 LCD display, an NE555 timer, a TPA3116 audio amplifier, and a 100W subwoofer. The STM32 controls the overall operation, while the NE555 timer generates sound signals in the 40–60 Hz frequency range. These signals are amplified by the TPA3116 amplifier and transmitted through the high-power subwoofer to produce intense low-frequency sound waves directed at the flame.

During implementation, the generated acoustic waves create pressure changes that interfere with the combustion process, reducing oxygen around the flame and extinguishing the fire effectively.

Conclusion

Overall, the design and development of the sound wave fire extinguisher have been carried out successfully, demonstrating the effectiveness of using acoustic energy as an alternative fire suppression method. The system was carefully designed, assembled, and tested, and all the intended functions of the extinguisher operated as expected. The generated low-frequency sound waves were able to interact with the flame by disturbing the combustion process, primarily by displacing oxygen around the fire and reducing the intensity of the flame. Throughout the experimentation process, it was observed that the extinguisher responded efficiently under controlled conditions, successfully suppressing small flames. The integration of components such as the signal generator, amplifier, and speaker system contributed to the proper generation and direction of sound waves toward the fire source. The results obtained validate the concept that sound waves, when produced at appropriate frequencies and intensities, can effectively extinguish flames without the need for water or chemical agents.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Dr. G. Sundar, Bensy K H, Dhivanan S, Ragul R, Sakthivel J. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.