The traditional red fire extinguisher has received an extreme makeover at the hands of Houston-based Mauser Group with assistance from the NASA-funded Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP), resulting in a sleek silver model that will complement even the most upscale home interiors.
Mauser Group's extinguisher – now dubbed the X-T Fire™ – is a lightweight, 16-ounce aerosol can that would dispense fire suppressor through a nozzle in a manner similar to hair spray. They discovered, however, that a standard aerosol nozzle didn't deliver the fire suppressor material in the most desirable spray pattern. Through their connection to Space Legacy, Hussmann and Amsel heard about SATOP and decided to approach the program for assistance in refining the nozzle's performance.
SATOP Texas Project Engineer Nick Gardner paired the Mauser Group's technical challenge with Doug Carraway at Space Gateway Support, a Bronze level SATOP Alliance Partner. Carraway is a former firefighter who works in design engineering specializing in fire protection systems at the Cape Canaveral (Florida) Spaceport. Carraway determined that an insert in the nozzle was creating the undesirable spray pattern. "These inserts are calibrated to dispense in a certain way, with different orifice sizes and patterns," Carraway explained. He consulted a variety of resources to find the right nozzle insert, from car wash companies to spray paint manufacturers, and tested the various inserts.
Ultimately, Carraway found an insert that was the correct orifice size, but would need to be customized to provide the desired spray pattern. He then calculated a design for the customization and provided it to Hussmann and Amsel. With Carraway's design, they proceeded with development and production of the X-T Fire.
Ed "Bear" Handwerk at Gold Level Alliance Partner MEI Technologies helped improve the fire extinguisher by providing recommendations regarding mounting brackets.