720109Anti-kickback and fog nozzlesClosedGRD Development of PrototypeInnovate UKEnhanced health and safety required in the offshore chemical exploration and extraction industry have highlighted the need for a range of handheld reactionless fire hose nozzles, which can be adjusted to provide a wide range of high pressure, high volume, spray ‘fog’ to enable the firemen to drive back smoke or fire, and provide walkway protection using static nozzles to protect the escape route for all staff. Kickback at switch-on is a very real problem on a wet/icy metal platform, the force of the jet can knock the operator off his feet, it should be noted that most of these operators are only part-time firemen, who are normally employed on the rig in some other capacity! It’s not too strong a statement to say that the action of these nozzles could well make the difference between life and death of the rig personnel! The reliability of the equipment is also of paramount importance, it’s required to perform at a moment’s notice, maybe after long periods of extreme weather conditions, from freezing cold to1000 degrees C in a fire. Currently, there are only two nozzle designs available from our competitors; both are inadequate, and fail to meet the required pressure flow requirements with little anti ‘kickback’ protection; one is made from gun metal bronze, very heavy and expensive to produce, the other in aluminium fails to match the specification necessary for use ‘off-shore’. Walter Frank Ltd., believe it’s possible to design and manufacture a new variable output nozzle which meets the specification, and by standardising the design for both handheld and static applications, produce an affordable product. The new design will enable the company to supply a complete range of fire fighting equipment-majority of customers would like to ‘single source’ all fire fighting equipment-and become the industries world leader in the next 5 years.