2400 hp sounds like a lot, but a Model X Plaid is 1020 hp. I assume it couldn't output 1020 hp for as long though.
The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
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Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#222400 hp sounds like a lot, but a Model X Plaid is 1020 hp. I assume it couldn't output 1020 hp for as long though.
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Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#23My dad worked on the Space Shuttle main engine program in the 80s. One of the things they built was the turbopump [0], which generated 23,000HP (and could drain your average home swimming pool in one minute). Seeing the test firings of the pump was pretty amazing, draining one "swimming pool" and filling another in a minute. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-25#Turbopumps
To say nothing of the launchpad sound suppression water system[1] that dumps 7,300 gal/sec (about 2–3 seconds for one swimming pool)!
Though that's just gravity-fed, of course. Still pretty cool though, I think (:
Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#24That "deltic" engine just for the water pumping is incredible, I'd never seen that cylinder layout before. > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Deltic
Piston engines got pretty wild before turbines eventually took over the world. The most efficient ones were more efficient than today's turbines in terms of BSFC[0]. One of the most interesting to me was the Napier Nomad[1], which used turbo- and super-charging. However, the turbo had secondary fuel injection and effectively ran as a turbine to drive the compressor.
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake-specific_fuel_consumptio... [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Nomad
Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#25This thing feels like a mortal danger to the (up to 8x!) iron pipes / hydrants it's pulling from, that it'd want to just chew up the very pipes themselves! Or to the building it's hurling 37 tons of water a minute at! I don't understand how a connector hose wouldn't collapse, how it maintains any cross-section rather than being sucked into collapse.
Also wondering: what replaced this!
(Ed: great reply from Mindcrime. Also, the new Ferrara Super Pumper shows a very impressive ribbed(?) 8-inch "hard suction" hose! There's a whole wikipedia section for these drafting/vacuum hoses: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suction_hose)
Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#26How do you extinguish an oil-well fire? Enter the "Big Wind" with two jet engines on a tank chassis. "The water is moving at a maximum rate of 220 gallons of water a second," https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15138374/stilling-the...
Tangentially related and recommended. Werner Herzog's film that also features longer sections on the fire fighting efforts on the oil fields. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lessons_of_Darkness
For lighter viewing there is Sorcerer (1977) [0] with Roy Scheider.
Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#27How do you extinguish an oil-well fire? Enter the "Big Wind" with two jet engines on a tank chassis. "The water is moving at a maximum rate of 220 gallons of water a second," https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15138374/stilling-the...
Tangentially related and recommended. Werner Herzog's film that also features longer sections on the fire fighting efforts on the oil fields. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lessons_of_Darkness
Video is hosted on archive.org https://archive.org/details/lessons-of-darkness-1992
Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#28That https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Deltic is pretty interesting.
You would initially think that the ignition events would be evenly spaced, but that's not the case. For every delta triplet, the ignitions come rapidly one after another, close together in the cycle.
In that second animation on the page, showing the firing order among 6 delta piston assemblies, if you keep your eyes fixated on any of the six columns, you can see the three firing events. Always C, B, A order.
Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#29My dad worked on the Space Shuttle main engine program in the 80s. One of the things they built was the turbopump [0], which generated 23,000HP (and could drain your average home swimming pool in one minute). Seeing the test firings of the pump was pretty amazing, draining one "swimming pool" and filling another in a minute. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-25#Turbopumps
To say nothing of the launchpad sound suppression water system[1] that dumps 7,300 gal/sec (about 2–3 seconds for one swimming pool)! Though that's just gravity-fed, of course. Still pretty cool though, I think (: [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_suppression_system
The article uses various measures, so here's a quick table:
Baikonur Cosmodrome: 4,800 gal/s (peak)
Space Shuttle Launch Complex 39: 7,317 gal/s (net)
Wallops: 4,000 gal/s (?)
SLS: 18,333 gal/s (peak)
Mack Super Pumper (this article): 146 gal/s (net)
Replacement new Super Pumper 1: 87.5 gal/s (net)Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#30Something the article doesn’t mention is why this was phased out. Was it replaced with something similar?
Better building fire suppression systems. Not to mention improvements to flame retardant materials.