The limitation
in the performance of electric actuated firefighting robots in high-
temperature fire environment has led to research on the alternative propulsion system for the
mobility of firefighting robots
in such environment. Capitalizing on the limitations of these
electric actuators we suggested a gas-actua
ted propulsion system in our earlier study. The
propulsion system is made up of a pneumatic motor as the actuator (for the robot) and carbon
dioxide gas (self-generated from dry ice) as the power source. To satisfy the consumption
requirement (9cfm) of the motor for efficient actuation of the robot in the fire environment, the
volume of carbon dioxide gas, as well as the corresponding mass of the dry ice that will
produce the required volume for powering and actuation of the robot, must be determined
. This
article, therefore, presents the computation
al analysis to predict the volumetric requirement and
the dry ice mass sufficient to power a carbon dioxide gas propelled autonomous firefighting
robot in
a high-temperature environment. The governing equation of the sublimation of dry ice
to carbon dioxide is established. An operating time of 2105.53
s and operating pressure rang
es
from 137.9kPa to 482.65kPa were achieved following the consumption rate of the motor. Thus,
8.85m
3
is computed as the volume requirement of the CAFFR while the corresponding dry ice
mass for the CAFFR actuation ranges
from 21.67kg to 75.83
kg depending on the operating
pressure
